Estate Basics

Beneficiaries

Beneficiaries Updated: October 16, 2023 Primary Beneficiaries Contingent Beneficiaries Trust as a Beneficiary in Your Will or Retirement Plan Beneficiaries are the people you choose to inherit part or all of your estate after your death. Adult beneficiaries can be named as executors and/or trustees, but shouldn’t sign as witnesses of any estate documents. They […]

Digital Estates

Digital Estates Updated: October 9, 2023 Making Online Assets Available Data Privacy Laws Criminal Unauthorized Access Laws If you think about how hard it is for you to keep track of all of your digital information, including everything found on your cloud account and other websites, electronic devices, thumb drives, and external hard drives, imagine […]

Crucial Estate Planning Steps

Crucial Estate Planning Steps Updated: October 6, 2023 Know All Your Options Make Decisions Carefully Change with the Times Communication is Important If your estate plan is not done properly, there may be consequences that can’t be corrected or easily fixed. Aside from not having an estate plan at all, there are many other basic […]

Beneficiaries

Beneficiaries Updated: October 16, 2023 Primary Beneficiaries Contingent Beneficiaries Trust as a Beneficiary in Your Will or Retirement Plan Beneficiaries are the people you choose to inherit part or all of your estate after your death. Adult beneficiaries can be named as executors and/or trustees, but shouldn’t sign as witnesses of any estate documents. They […]

Estates and Taxes

Estates and Taxes Updated: October 24, 2023 Gift Tax Estate Tax Inheritance Tax Income Tax Capital Gains Tax Generation-skipping Tax Like the end of life, taxes are also inevitable when your estate is passed on. There are five ways your estate may be taxed after you die, three of which will be paid by your […]

Estate Basics

Estate Basics After you have detailed your assets, chosen beneficiaries, named executors/trustees, and decided on how to disperse your assets, you should choose the most effective ways to accomplish and document the estate plan. Settling your affairs is a difficult and time-consuming task. Without all of the needed documents and information, the process can be […]

Inheritance Law

Inheritance Law Updated: October 17, 2023 Inheritance Rights of a Surviving Spouse Inheritance Rights of a Spouse after Divorce Inheritance Rights of Children Inheritance Rights of Grandchildren Most people assume that their close relatives will inherit only what is left to them in the will. However, when it comes to your spouse and descendants this […]

The Probate Process

The Probate Process Updated: October 11, 2023 Estate Assets Subject to the Probate Process Non-probate Estate Assets Convertible assets Choosing Probate The probate process is an important issue in estate planning and it comes up a lot. Information about the probate process is important to understanding some of the details of estate planning and helping […]

Sharing Your Estate Plan

Sharing Your Estate Plan Updated: October 23, 2023 With Whom and What to Share Old-Fashioned Way Digital Estate Plans Before finalizing an estate plan, you should consider whether or not you will share it with others, and if you do, how much you are comfortable sharing. It can be difficult for some people, especially the […]