Estate Planning

09/15/11 - Did you inherit an IRA or other retirement account in 2010? Time to review beneficiaries!

Did you inherit an IRA or other retirement account in 2010? There are a number of requirements and deadlines you MUST be aware of. Failure to meet...read more

02/08/10 - 2010--The Estate Tax Oddity

Three! Two! One! Flat-line!!! While greedy beneficiaries of wealthy estates bring in the New Year by pulling the plug on their relatives, the rest...read more

06/24/08 - ILITs: An Exceptional Estate Planning Tool

Properly used, Irrevocable Life Insurance Trusts (ILITs) can prove to be an exceptional estate planning tool. An ILIT is typically created to own...read more

06/16/06 - Five Ways to Transfer Wealth to Your Spouse

For some families, an estate plan that transfers all of the assets to a surviving spouse could be the very worst possible approach. You could...read more

04/28/06 - A Trust as An IRA Beneficiary?

Not so long ago I got a call from one of my favorite clients. He is in the process of getting his financial affairs in order and wanted to know if...read more

09/01/05 - Will Your Family Be Taken Care of When You Are Gone?

It is debatable whether or not a person can be emotionally and spiritually prepared for death. However, it is certain that our financial state of...read more

07/13/05 - Uncovering Income Sources for Widows

The death of a spouse creates a difficult transition in any person's life. The emotional effects can be devastating while the financial impact of...read more

03/28/05 - Inheriting IRAs Is A Tricky Process

As the first generation of investors in traditional individual retirement accounts begin to die, an increasing number of surviving spouses or...read more

11/18/04 - Preplanning Your Own Funeral Can Save Your Loved Ones Stress and Money

Planning our own funeral is a task few of us wish to tackle. Yet funerals can be a major expense for many families, and advance planning can save...read more

10/05/04 - Estate Planning For Blended Families

With divorce rates as high as ever, more and more families today are becoming "blended" with children from different marriages. This can create an...read more

08/02/04 - Disclaiming an IRA Inheritance

Saying "no thanks" or refusing an inheritance, now who in the heck would want to do something as stupid as that? Well, if it's debt you stand to...read more

07/13/04 - Naming A Trust As Beneficiary Could Mean Trouble for Your Heirs

Naming a trust as the beneficiary of your retirement plan or IRA could mean drastically less income for your heirs than first planned and higher...read more

04/21/04 - How To Handle Being An Estate Executor

At some point in your life, you may be asked to serve as executor of a loved one's estate--a spouse, a parent, a good friend. Actually, you may...read more

01/27/04 - New Estate Tax Provisions

Think of this! all your life you pay taxes to Uncle Sam on your earned income, retirement income, investment returns, and many more just to name a...read more

01/26/04 - Making Health Care Decisions While You Can

Like most people, you probably would want to exercise control over decisions about your health care even when you are physically or mentally...read more

11/18/03 - Controlling IRA Distributions by Naming a Trust as the Beneficiary

Want to make sure your IRA money gets disbursed exactly as you had hoped after you die? How would you feel if an unplanned recipient, like your...read more

11/18/03 - Controlling IRA Distributions by Naming a Trust as the Beneficiary

Want to make sure your IRA money gets disbursed exactly as you had hoped after you die? How would you feel if an unplanned recipient, like your...read more

09/14/03 - Avoiding The Costs of Probate

Each year millions of dollars are wasted paying steep attorney & court fees related to probate proceedings that simply could have been avoided...read more

02/11/03 - What Not To Do When Inheriting Wealth

Inheriting wealth is not all that it's cracked up to be. Okay, that doesn't necessarily mean you should turn it down--though some heirs do just...read more

04/16/02 - 8 Estate Planning Strategies You Should Know

Despite the scheduled repeal of estate taxes by 2010 (and scheduled to reappear in 2011), many estate planning strategies, including tax reduction...read more

04/16/02 - Keys To A Comprehensive Will

A survey in August 2001 by the Web site FindLaw found that six in ten adult Americans did not have a will, especially among younger adults. Less...read more

01/06/02 - Transfer on Death: Avoiding The Unnecessary Aggravation

Losing a cherished member of your family is an emotional time, and it is never easy. Not only is it hard dealing with the personal loss, but...read more

12/01/01 - Contingencies: Planning for Simultaneous Disasters

Every once in a while, a tragedy reminds us that simultaneous deaths do happen. While rare, my experience has shown that few couples have prepared...read more

10/15/01 - Wills Don't Always Do the Job

Wills are an important part of estate planning. Every one should have one. But, wills only solve a few pieces of the estate-planning problem. You...read more

10/13/01 - I Don't Have Enough To Need Estate Planning

Think you're not a good candidate for estate planning? Think again! Consider the following scenarios: SCENARIO 1: You and your wife die in a...read more

10/03/01 - Generations of Tax Deferrals On Retirement Assets

Pension plan and IRA beneficiary selection presents special opportunities and problems for account holders. Choosing the right beneficiary could...read more

08/03/01 - Estate Planning For Simultaneous Deaths

Two air crashes in 1999 vividly illustrate that death can come suddenly and simultaneously to a husband and wife. John Kennedy, Jr., and his wife...read more

08/03/01 - Estate Tax Changes Require Careful Planning

Many wealthier taxpayers may be excited that the new tax act eventually eliminates estate taxes, but they may not realize that the law's...read more

08/03/01 - The Fact And Fiction of Trusts

Trusts have become very popular, especially as fortunes are made in the stock market and baby boomers inherit wealth. At their most basic, trusts...read more

08/03/01 - Keeping the Peace Among Your Heirs

A couple of years ago, AARP [Washington Post, EP file, 1] released a study that found that one in five people receiving an inheritance battled...read more

08/03/01 - The Pros And Cons Of Incentive Trusts

Many of America's wealthy families, and even many families who have accumulated more modest wealth, are concerned about passing their assets on to...read more