
Latest News
Ensuring Your Will Adapts To Life’s Changes
Creating a will provides a semblance of control over the unknown and reassures us that our loved ones will be taken care of. If you executed your Wills in the 1990s, they would generally still hold validity today.
When you’ve taken the crucial step of drafting a Will, it’s equally vital to prepare your chosen executor for what lies ahead. Informing them ahead of time ensures a smoother process during what can be a challenging period.
Britt Burner discusses the importance of basic estate planning documents for all generations, including health care proxies, durable power of attorneys and last will and testaments for both your own planning as well as aging family members.
Whenever a loved one passes, especially one that was depended on, it is often difficult for one to even consider the next steps, yet alone know what those steps are.
You should be checking on your accounts as often as you review your estate plan. In general, we recommend an estate plan review every three to five years. Any change in life circumstances or family, or changes in the law, will warrant a review of your plan as well.
Spring is here and so is tax season. The income tax filing deadline this year is April 18, 2022.
An estate planning consultation is not everyone’s idea of a good time. In some cases, people have put off estate planning for years – if not decades. Discussing the taboo triad of aging, death and money makes people uncomfortable.
Although cryptocurrencies like bitcoin have gone mainstream, non-fungible tokens (NFTs) were relatively unknown until 2021. You may have heard about “Bored Apes” worth tens of thousands of dollars, “CryptoKitties” breeding, or artist Beeple selling an NFT for $69 million through Christies auction house.
On January 1, 2020, as we entered another year without any idea of what was on the horizon, a new federal law took effect regarding retirement accounts. The SECURE Act, “Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement”, affects millions of Americans who have been saving through tax-deferred retirement plans.
A Last Will and Testament allows you to direct where your assets go at your death and who will be legally in charge of the estate. New York law sets forth specific requirements for a legally valid will. Failure to follow such requirements will result in the Surrogate’s Court rejecting the Will as invalid.
An ownership interest in real property is a combination of a bundle of different rights, the rights to possession, use, transfer, encumber and exclude. A life estate is a type of joint ownership of real property with ownership “split” between a present interest and a remainder interest.
Our Blog
Estate planning is all about preparation and ensuring that your assets are distributed in line with your wishes. It’s a comfort knowing your loved ones will be cared for just as you intend. However, life’s unpredictability sometimes throws a curveball. What if a beneficiary becomes disabled after you’ve finalized your estate plan?
Estate planning involves careful consideration of various factors to ensure that your assets are protected and distributed according to your wishes. One element that can add an extra layer of flexibility and protection to your trust is the inclusion of a Trust Protector.
Everyone knows the statistics – almost 50% of marriages in the United States end in divorce. Second and third marriages fail at an even higher rate.
Mental illness refers to a wide range of conditions that affect an individual’s mood, thinking, and behavior. These conditions can affect a person’s ability to function in daily life and can vary in severity from mild to severe.
When the SECURE Act passed in 2019, the biggest impact on estate planning was the elimination of the “lifetime stretch” for most beneficiaries of individual retirement plans (IRAs).
We use the phrase “estate plan” dozens of times every day. It is useful for us attorneys because it describes a group of documents. Unfortunately, estate planning sounds much fancier than it is.