Tag: Estate planning

  • A Hui Hou

    All good things must come to an end, or so they say. This is the last article by this author that will appear in this publication. I wish the Generations team and readers all the best in every way. I hope that over the past 15 years, you have gleaned from this column how important…

  • Will a Will Do What You Think It Will?

    Most people think of a last will and testament as the cornerstone of an estate plan. For most of us, however, it’s a lousy cornerstone. Your will is often simply a safety net that helps make sure your overall estate plan is going to work as it was designed. Your will is like the spare…

  • DIY Estate Planning

    The problem with do-it-yourself estate plans is they often don’t work in the real world. An effective plan involves far more than a set of documents—even very well-drawn documents that would stand up in any court in the land, as they say in the commercials. But why would you want your estate plan to have…

  • Naughty or Nice?

    Your estate plan is the set of documents that you use to say who gets your stuff when you go. It is also where you can say who doesn’t get any of your stuff — with some important exceptions. In most states, you can disinherit everybody but your spouse. You can even disinherit the IRS.…

  • Thank You

    I cannot believe that the holidays are already upon us, so let me step back and take a moment to reflect and thank each of my clients for allowing me to be part of their life. Please know that each of you have had and continue to have a tremendous impact on my life. As…

  • SECURE Act 2.0

    According to a Federal Reserve System report on the Economic Well-Being of U.S. Households in 2022–May 2023 in 2023, “3/4 of non-retired adults had at least some retirement savings, about 28% did not have any. This share who did not report any retirement savings was up from 25% in 2021. While most non-retired adults had…

  • Communication & Grief

    Grief is a natural response to the loss of someone special. The process of grieving allows the griever to adapt to a new world of existence without the loved one.

  • Minimize Asset Distribution Drama

    Minimize Asset Distribution Drama

    Minimizing estate asset distribution conflicts among survivors proves to be a challenging consequence of death. Hard-to-divide assets such as a family heirloom or the family home can cause the fracturing of relationships.

  • What’s in YOUR Toolbox?

    Trusts are tools. Like screwdrivers, they come in a variety of sizes and shapes, each designed to accomplish a defined result. You need a screwdriver with a tip that looks like a straight line for a screw with a head that has a straight slot in it. You need a screwdriver with a tip shaped…

  • Grief & Bereavement — Part VIII

    In Sherry Turkle’s book, Reclaiming Conversation: The Power of Talk In A Digital Age, she writes about the process of the virtuous circle of communication by discussing the poet, Henry David Thoreau’s moving to Waldon Pond to live more deliberately. Thoreau furnished his cabin with three chairs. One chair to represent solitude, where he could…

  • Estate Planning 101

    The first step in the estate planning process is learning. What do you need to learn? I suggest this as your starting point: You need to discover how to stay in control of your stuff while you are able to be in control, as well as how to be sure that that your wishes will…

  • Grief & Bereavement — Part VII

    Estate planning attorneys help their  clients make sound, intentional decisions relating to their estate plans when they manage to help clients minimize guilt, conflict and anxiety. At the same time, survivors should be allowed experience the natural process of grief.