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Why a Trust Makes Sense - Even If Your Child Is Not a Child

If your children have reached adulthood, you might assume it's best to leave them their inheritances outright, with no restrictions. However, you want to make sure your children enjoy flexibility in accessing and using their inheritances while minimizing the impact of taxes, divorce, lawsuits, and other threats. Therefore, it might be better to leave their inheritances in a Trust.

I Have an Estate Plan: Do I Still Need My Attorney?

Your estate plan is prepared. Your Living Trust is in place and properly funded, you have a Pour-Over Will just in case, and your incapacity plan is ready and waiting in the event you need it. Is it time to part ways with your attorney? Not at all! In fact, your relationship with your estate planning attorney has just started.

Your Family Deserves More Than an Estate Plan

If you want to leave a true legacy, a traditional estate plan is not enough. With Legacy Planning, you can pass on your values, wisdom, and family heritage along with your nest egg. You can also provide your children's inheritances with just the right amount of protection from the threats and challenges of life.

Planning Your Estate With Privacy in Mind

When you use a Will to plan your estate, much of your personal information becomes public after your death. A Trust can help you accomplish your estate planning goals while shielding your personal affairs from prying eyes.

What to Expect When You're Inheriting

Most of us have daydreamed about inheriting money, but the reality of inheriting often doesn't match our dreams. In the real world, an inheritance can bring with it a number of questions and worries. Here we address four common concerns about inheritances.

Helping Your Parents Age Gracefully

Your mom and dad have always been there to guide you through life's challenges. Now, the tables are turning. Learn some strategies for gently helping your parents plan for the challenges they're likely to face as they age.

Does a Roth Make Sense for You?

Choosing between a traditional IRA and a Roth IRA can have significant tax and estate planning consequences. Whether a Roth is the right option depends on a number of factors, including an account owner's current income, anticipated post-retirement income, and estate planning goals.

Five Estate Planning Myths

Estate planning is on everyone's "should do" list, but it rarely seems to make it to the top of the "to do" list. Perhaps this is because of all the myths surrounding the estate planning process. Here are five common estate planning myths, along with the truths behind them.

Getting Value Out of Giving with Charitable Trust

You've heard the maxim, "It's better to give than to receive." Americans take this aphorism to heart, especially as it relates to contributions to charity. Did you know that our tax laws actually encourage charitable giving? This article will explain gift-giving options from small to large, each with tax-savings implications.

The Estate Tax Is Not the Only Consideration in Estate Planning

The U.S. Congress continually debates the estate tax, often considering whether or not it should be done away with entirely. Many people think this tax is a cornerstone of estate planning, so if it's eliminated, they don't need an estate plan. Nothing is further from the truth. This article explains why.

There's No Time Like the Present to Review your Plans

Time passes quickly. Life brings change. While these may seem like platitudes, they reflect the truth of most people's lives. This article will encourage you to recognize a new life stage as an opportunity to review and fine tune your estate plan.

Leaving a Ranching Legacy

Ranch life comes with its own particular challenges and rewards. Therefore, ranch families have even more need for professional advice than other families when it comes to finding the most effective means of passing on their assets, which may be more substantial than they suppose. This article explores various means that can be employed to create an estate plan which minimizes taxes and distributes assets equitably.

Is Your Ex-Spouse Really Out of Your Life?

Divorce is bad enough, but did you know that your children and new spouse can suffer financial devastation if you do not remember to change your estate planning documents after a divorce?

Make Sure Your Dreams Don't Turn Into Nightmares

The financial consequences of a divorce can be costly. You can do things right now to protect future generations in your family from suffering financial devastation after a breakup.

Look After Your Spouse Even After You're Gone

You and your spouse have worked hard to save for your golden years. But have you planned for a long, secure retirement if one of you outlives the other? Here’s how paying attention to certain key financial areas can set both of you up for a secure, worry-free retirement.

Choose Your Estate Planning Practitioner Wisely

Who should you entrust with planning your estate? Unfortunately, the estate planning industry can be a mixed bag. Along with licensed, qualified attorneys there are unqualified, or even unlicensed, individuals producing cookie-cutter estate plans that may or may not work as intended. Find out why you should choose your estate planning practitioner wisely.

Don't be Fooled: Estate Planning Isn't Just for the Wealthy

Estate planning is not just for the wealthy. The truth is, estate planning is about achieving some pretty common goals and taking care of basic responsibilities, regardless of how big or small our investment portfolio happens to be.

Short and Sweet is Not Always Better

When you compare a do-it-yourself living trust with one that was prepared by a qualified estate planning attorney, one of the first things you’re likely to notice is that the attorney-prepared trust is long. And it might not be so easy to read. There’s a good reason for this. This article discusses the reasons why planning for contingencies with an attorney drafted estate plan is the better choice. When it comes to estate planning, there’s any number of contingencies to prepare for.

Leaving a Lasting Legacy

When you really think about it, your true wealth is much more than just your accumulated assets or material possessions. With the right plan, you can protect and preserve your true wealth and create a legacy for your family that will last for generations to come.

Practical Strategies for Protecting Your Privacy

We’re all exposed to invasions of our privacy, large and small, during our lifetimes and even after death. These practical strategies make it easier to shield your family’s personal affairs from prying eyes.

Puppy Love: Planning Your Estate With a Pet Trust

Increasingly, pet owners are not just worried about providing for our pets during our lifetimes, we want to ensure that they get all the love and care they need after we’re gone, too. This article discusses the estate planning benefits a Pet Trust can provide for your furry and feathered animal companions.

Estate Planning Without a Crystal Ball

When you are planning your estate, it is important to remember that circumstances rarely stay the same over long periods of time. A plan that worked for your family when the kids were little may very well be obsolete by the time they've started families of their own. This is why it's important to ensure that you build flexibility into your plan.

Planning Your Estate? Don't Forget Insurance

The term "estate planning" usually calls to mind the process of creating a Will, establishing a Living Trust, or naming a guardian for young children. One piece of the estate planning puzzle that might not be readily apparent, though, is insurance. Learn how insurance in its many forms plays an important role in the estate planning process.

Help! My Attorney No Longer Practices Law

It's not something we often stop to think about, but attorneys experience life changes like anyone else. They may change careers or experience an illness or disability, or they may retire or even pass away. This article discusses the steps you should take if your estate planning lawyer no longer practices law.

What to Expect When You're Inheriting

At some point in our lives, we all dream of receiving an inheritance. We envision buying a new car, finally being able to afford private schools for the kids, or maybe even taking a trip around the world. But the reality of inheriting money or property often differs from our dreams. The process of settling an estate and distributing a deceased person’s assets can be time consuming. During this process you may have questions about taxes on various types of assets you may be inheriting, such as IRAs, valuable collectibles, and other property. This article provides a summary on what you can expect during this process if you’re anticipating an inheritance.

Parenting Your Grandchildren? You Need a Solid Estate Plan

According to data collected in the 2010 census, 4.9 million children under age eighteen live in grandparent-headed households. If you are in this growing number of grandparents returning to your “parent” role again, one of the pressing responsibilities that accompany your job as caregiver is to make sure you have a plan for your grandchildren in the event that something happens to you. And because you’re older now than you were the first time around, planning becomes even more important. This article reviews why it is imperative to have an estate plan in place and what a basic plan should include.

One Big Happy Family: How to Avoid an Estate Dispute

Picture this… You’re at the end of your long, fulfilling life and you’re ready to say goodbye to your loved ones and leave this world in peace. And then… your family declares war on each other. This scenario plays out all too often even in the closest of families. This article examines helpful ways to plan and avoid divisive family disputes after you are gone.

Helping Your Parents Through Their Twilight Years

As a child, your parents were there to guide and support you as you faced life’s challenges and obstacles in your path growing up. Similarly, as your parents age, and become less independent, they will rely on you as they face new challenges in their twilight years. This article examines how planning well in advance is important to ensure that no matter what lies ahead, their care and financial affairs will be looked after. Regardless of their financial means, if they are wealthy or of more modest means, there is a plan that can meet the specific needs of your family.

Why are Roth's Such a Big Deal?

A Roth IRA has some important distinctions from a traditional IRA, and, depending on your tax bracket, your retirement needs, and your estate planning goals, a Roth could be a better choice for you. So, what's the difference between the two types of IRAs? This article explores how each IRA works and which option can best fit your personal needs and goals.

10 Essential Estate Planning Facts

An alarming 55% of American's don't have an estate plan in place. Procrastination is a common excuse. However, for many people it's a lack of knowledge about estate planning, including the benefits, their options and the protections it offers them and their families. This article reviews 10 essential estate planning facts that will arm with you with enough knowlege to cross estate planning off your "to do" list.

What Does a Millionaire Look Like?

Last year, the number of households in the United States with a net worth of $1 million or more grew by 16%, reaching 7.8 million. So, what does a typical American millionaire look like? The answer may surprise you. This article reveals characteristics and habits these self-made millionaires have in common and how you can learn and prosper from their example.

Recently Divorced? Make Sure You Tie Up All The Loose Ends

As anyone who's been through a divorce can confirm, it can be an emotionally draining and devastating experience. Once the divorce is finalized, you may think that all your legal ties to your former spouse are completely severed. However, it couldn't be further from the truth - especially if you created an estate plan while you were married. This article discusses which estate planning documents need to reviewed and newly created, and the beneficiary designations that need to be updated after a divorce.

What to Do With a Windfall

We've all had dreams of striking it rich one day. But what would you do if your dream actually became reality? If you unexpectedly come into an inheritance or a large sum of money, it is important to know what other issues come with this new found wealth. Taxes, estate planning and financial planning to name a few, need to be considered and addressed. This article covers what to do if your dream of sudden wealth comes true and how best to handle this happy windfall.

How to Help Others While Reducing Your Taxes

Lately it seems like natural disasters around the world are regular occurrences; from earthquakes in South America and China to hurricanes in the Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico. We feel empathetic for the victims, but often feel powerless to help. While we may be too far to personally help the victims of these disasters, many of us send donations to help people in these communities. However, sending a check may not be the wisest choice for taking advantage of the potential tax saving benefits offered through other gifting methods. This article discusses the main gifting strategies for maximizing tax benefits, such as Charitable Trusts.

Home Comforts: Maximizing Your Most Valuable Asset

If you're like many Americans, your home is your single most valuable asset, both emotionally and financially. In addition to being the center of your family life and possibly your most significant financial investment, your home can offer you benefits in terms of taxes, estate planning and asset protection. This article provides various examples of the benefits you can take advantage of as a home owner. With the help of a qualified estate planning attorney, you can make the most of your home, now and in the future.

Estate Planning: It's About More Than Taxes

In 2010, contrary to a lot of people's expectations, Congress allowed the one-year repeal of the estate tax. Despite all the fuss, the estate tax repeal didn't eliminate the need for estate planning. Why? Estate planning is about so much more than just taxes. This article discusses the many non-tax related reasons why it's important to have an estate plan in place.

When Harry Met Sally: A Lesson in Preventing Family Discord

Oftentimes, families can be torn apart when a disgruntled beneficiary challenges a Trust. This article looks at a blended family's Trust inheritance that was contested by one of the beneficiaries. The contest cost all the beneficiaries hundreds of thousands of dollars and ultimately severed their relationships. Learn how their loss, both emotionally and financially, might have been avoided if the Trust had included a No Contest clause.

When Father Time Catches Up With Our Parents

We all expect it to happen eventually. Our parents getting older. Not just older chronologically, but physically and mentally older as well. When these turn of events happen, there may also come a time when your parents will need more care than you can provide on your own. They may eventually need in-home care, or an assisted living facility, or even a nursing home. Are you prepared? In this article you will find out the steps you should take to secure your parents future, as well as your own. Also discussed is your ability to help them plan now for these eventual needs and help them prepare for this next stage in life when the time comes.

What Keeps a New Mom Up at Night Besides the Baby?

The birth of a new baby is a wondrous and joyous event. As a new mom you look forward to caring for your baby and watching your precious bundle of joy grow and develop from infancy to being a toddler, and then school-age to young adult. However, if something unexpected should happen to you, who would look after your child's physical and financial well being? This article reveals how you can provide a secure future for your new baby, with a comprehensive estate plan, should the unexpected happen.

How to Avoid Estate Planning Minefields: You Don't Know What You Don't Know

Some things seem like they should be easy--and they are easy. However, the problem with some complex responsibilities is that they may seem simple on the surface, yet they may be very difficult in reality. This is equally true for estate planning. However, experts can spot the hidden problems which the ordinary person may not. This article looks at the problems one couple had when they opted to use do-it-yourself estate planning software instead of consulting with an attorney. There was a hidden minefield that caused everything the family had worked for to be lost to an ex-spouse. Something that could easily have been avoided had they consulted with an experienced estate planning attorney. Find out what some of the most common estate planning minefields are and how you can avoid them.

Preserving Your Independence

As we get older, it often seems that time accelerates. Where does all the time go? Aging is a normal part of life. Unfortunately, as we age later in life we are no longer as able-bodied as when we were younger. What would happen if your health took a turn for the worst? This article discusses planning for the future using a Medicaid Income Only Trust. This type of trust can help preserve your financial independence, but there are certain guidelines that must be followed. Plan to protect your independence, see a qualified estate planning and elder law attorney today and discuss your options.

A New Tax and Retirement Opportunity in 2010

We all know the importance of saving for retirement. However, those earning above $100,000 have had one retirement saving opportunity denied to them: the Roth IRA. If you fall into this category, you are now in luck! Beginning in 2010, there is no income limitation for converting from a traditional IRA to a Roth IRA. There are two methods to get money into a Roth IRA: Contributing money to the Roth IRA or converting a regular IRA to a Roth IRA. The rules are different depending on which method is used. In this article, you will learn how a Roth IRA works and the advantages you may gain if you convert. A Roth IRA can be a great way to save for retirement. But remember, these and other valuable assets in your estate are governed by beneficiary designations. A qualified estate and retirement planning attorney, who focuses their practice in that area, can help tailor an estate plan that coordinates the beneficiary designations and can help you decide whether switching to a Roth IRA is right for you.

Pet Planning - Not Just for the Rich and Eccentric

When people think of someone setting up a Trust for their pet, they might imagine Leona Helmsley's pet Maltese named Trouble drinking Perrier from a crystal bowl in a lavish Manhattan penthouse. However, you don't have to be rich and eccentric to set up a Pet Trust to care for their beloved pet(s). Pet Trusts are most commonly set up by caring individuals who just want to make sure that their non-human family member is taken care of in the event of their own death or disability. This article discusses the 3 easy steps necessary to set up a Pet Trust for your furry and feathered family members. Remember, without you planning for them in advance, they may face the same awful fate that awaits so many other orphaned pets. You will sleep better knowing that they will continue purring or wagging their tail even if you're no longer able to care for them.

Taking Care of Rover After You're Gone

Your pet may have been with you for years and provided companionship and support. We plan for our human families, like our children, but oftentimes forget about our pets or assume someone will take on their care. However, if we do not make arrangements for our pets, they may join the hundreds of thousands of sad pets who end up in shelters, or worse, are euthanized because of their owners' death or disability. These loving, vulnerable members of your family need you to plan for them, too. This article discusses how a Pet Trust can help you provide for your pet when you are no longer able to offer care and support.

Caring for Your Spouse....Even After You're Gone

Do you worry about caring and providing for your ailing spouse and making sure their needs are met, after you are gone? This article describes how a Testamentary Special Needs Trust is one estate planning strategy that can help you do exactly that. Learn how you can plan now to help your spouse qualify for financial assistance for their future medical and nursing home costs, while preserving your assets for other expenses or "luxuries" that your spouse may need, which are not covered by government benefits.

Trustee: an Honor and a Responsibility

Being named a Successor Trustee in your loved one's Trust is both an honor and a responsibility. It is the Successor Trustee's responsibility to administer the Trust and make many important decisions. In this article, we learn that some of those decisions may seem deceptively simple, however, the consequences of any hasty decisions could cause increased taxes and lost opportunities. Learn why it is important to consult a qualified estate planning attorney in order to prevent costly errors.

Protecting Your Children from Our Litigious Society

How can you protect your children and their inheritance from litigation? This article explains how some innovative trust, the Family Sentry Trust and the Family Access Trust can help.

Legacy Planning: A Holistic Approach

This article looks at the latest developments in estate planning: "Legacy Planning." Legacy Planning focuses on the values and guidance to be relayed to future generations, not just wealth. The article discusses The Family Wealth Trust and its two subtrusts, the Family Access Trust and the Family Sentry Trust and how they can protect the beneficiaries from divorce and creditors.

Planning for Unforeseen Circumstances

The article examines the importance of drafting flexibility into your estate plan to adjust for changes in values, circumstances, and interests.

Learn from Anna Nicole's Mistakes

The article examines Anna Nicole's Will and that she did not update it upon major changes in her life: death of a son, birth of a daughter, commitment ceremony to Howard K. Stern. It suggests that the reader learn from these mistakes and be sure to update their plan periodically.

Your 401k or IRA: A Problem Asset?

The article looks at IRAs and 401ks and how we need to save for retirement. Then it looks at the tax problems these plans create. It examines the stretch out available with the FRPT. It also examines using distributions to fund life insurance.

How to Leave a Mess to Your Heirs

This article examines several common mistakes that create a mess for heirs: Lifetime Transactions without counsel (such as adding people on title to realty), Failure to Plan, and Failure to Communicate. The article poses the problem and then offers a solution to each.

To Roth or Not to Roth, That is the Question

The article examines the Roth IRA and recent developments that have expanded the concept, such as the Roth 401(k) and the ability to convert from a regular IRA in 2010.

A New Way to Give

This article examines new opportunities for charitable giving directly from an IRA.

Do You Want Your Spouse to Lose Your Biggest Asset?

The article examines how beneficiary designations must be coordinated in order to have an effective estate plan. It looks at the story of a woman who forgot to change her beneficiary designations. As a result her husband of 20 years did not get her retirement plan proceeds.

Planning With Retirement Assets

The article looks at retirement planning and looks at a few strategies such as ROTH conversion, paying the tax, giving to charity, etc.

Dealing with Aging Parents

The article examines how the parents took care of the kids and how the kids then take care of the parents. It looks at the need to plan in advance for wealthy parents (estate tax reduction), not so wealthy parents (Medicaid planning), and any parents (powers of attorney, etc.).

Study Shows Most Americans Unprepared

This article examines the percentage of Americans with various basic estate planning documents and explains each document.

Common Mistakes in Estate Planning

People make many mistakes in estate planning. Several examples of mistakes are given, including procrastination, failure to update, improper fiduciary choices, leaving assets outright, etc.

Privacy Protections: Don't Be Overprotected

Recent federal laws and regulations have created new privacy protections for your medical information. These laws are known as "HIPAA" (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act). Now physicians, hospitals, health insurers, and other "covered entities" must comply with strict rules or face fines and potential criminal penalties. An innocent mistake would incur a fine of $100. More serious breaches of privacy, such as releasing information for malicious harm, could result in fines of up to $250,000 and 10 years in prison. Understandably, health care providers are being extremely careful about the release of medical information in the face of such penalties.

Common Asset Protection Mistakes in Estate Planning

We all know that estate planning includes decisions about what should happen to our assets upon our death or disability. However, people often overlook asset protection issues and strategies in the estate planning process. Asset protection is the shielding of assets from potential creditors and others.

If You Really Love Me, Don't Leave Me Anything!

This sounds like an odd statement, but it may be very accurate. Leaving assets directly to children or other beneficiaries may cause them problems which could be easily avoided or reduced by leaving them the assets in trust rather than outright. Even if the child is a very capable adult, it is often better to leave the assets in trust. The child can receive the assets in trust and could be trustee of that trust. As trustee, the child could invest the assets as desired, could purchase a home with trust assets and live in it, and could even start a small business. All of this can be done while leaving the assets in the trust. Further, as trustee, the child could make distributions needed for his or her health, education, maintenance and support, or that of his or her own children. Finally, the child can be given a power to determine who should get any remaining assets at his or her own death.

Planning Reduces Stress in Times of Tragedy

The recent tragic events in New York, Virginia, and Pennsylvania have shaken each of us to the core. We look at the horrific images of destruction and misery surrounding us and they speak to us in a personal way. Many Americans have flocked to churches, synagogues, mosques, and other places of worship seeking answers to questions regarding the meaning of life and the existence of suffering.

Why Women Hold the Keys to Successful Estate Planning

Some people still assume that, when it comes to financial and legal matters, women are not key players. However, this is entirely inaccurate. Women are most likely to be highly involved and greatly affected by estate planning. In recent generations, women have taken on a larger role in the financial arena. The number of women in the workplace has tripled in the last fifty years. Meanwhile, the real median income of women has increased by sixty-three percent, while that of men has declined by six percent in the same period. This income shift changes the family dynamics and gives women a greater voice in financial matters. According to a recent survey, women have an equal say in major financial decisions in seventy-five percent of households. In homes where one partner is solely responsible for financial decisions, women outnumber men in that role by a four to three margin.

Tax-Deferred Annuities: Who is Taxed Upon the Annuitant's Death?

Many people own tax-deferred fixed annuities these days. They provide a way to defer income taxation on the investment growth until distributions are taken. But most people who own tax-deferred annuities are unaware of how an annuity is taxed if no distributions are taken before the annuitant's death. This lack of knowledge can lead to unintended results.

Estate Planning: Minimizing Taxes Is Only Part of the Equation

When our national or state law-making bodies begin talking about decreasing or increasing estate taxes, a flood of reaction pours out in anticipation. Throughout our history of legislation, there have been few moments of anticipation worth the hoopla. Estate taxation laws are rarely changed for the benefit of the taxed. Yet every time a change is proposed, many people delay, or entirely ignore proper estate planning in anticipation of what never happens.

Insurance and Estate Taxes: Two Sides of the Coin

Life Insurance can be an integral part of proper estate planning in several ways.
An effective Estate Plan maximizes the value of the estate. Transferring life insurance policies from an estate may assist in reaching that goal. Life Insurance also can be used to pay the estate taxes that cannot otherwise be avoided. Life insurance becomes a two-sided coin in estate planning.

But Wait, There's More: The Importance of Trust Administration

Many people probably think that once they have an estate plan in place their needs have been met. They are ready to move on, and feel secure in the knowledge that when they die their estate will be handled according to their wishes. To some extent this is true. Your wishes will be carried out and you will save your family time and money, but setting up the plan is only the beginning of the estate planning process. It is imperative that you review your plan regularly with your estate planning attorney. Buying or selling property, getting divorced, significant changes in income, and many other life-changing circumstances can impact your estate plan. In addition to regularly updating your plan while you are living, someone must be selected to manage the plan after you die. Trust administration is a vitally important and often misunderstood (or ignored) aspect of an estate plan that includes a trust. Trust administration allows for the orderly settling of the decedent's legal and financial affairs, including the disbursement of assets to the trust beneficiaries.

Don't Get Scammed . . . Get Smart

Estate planning has been in the news lately with stories on CNN and articles in Time, Money, and Fortune. Many of these stories have focused on the use of living trusts. It's important to remember that there are several types of trusts - some are legal, many are not. It is also important to know what those illegitimate trusts are and why you want to avoid them. Not only is using one of these trusts illegal, but you could end up losing your money and paying taxes, interest, and fees in addition to any civil or criminal penalties.

The Grass Looks Greener on the Other Side of the Inexpensive Estate Plan

"Valuation planning is a significant part of estate planning used to reduce estate or gift taxes. Valuation planning illustrates the age-old concept that ""you get what you pay for"" in estate planning, as well as in any other endeavor. The method of determining the value of the property is extremely important because estate and gift taxes are imposed on the value given, whether a gift or a bequest. It is equally important to use valuation planning to reduce the taxable value."

Estate Planning for Your Grandchildren's Education

Many grandparents want to help provide funds for the education expenses of their grandchildren. With the increased value of the stock market over the last several years, many grandparents have more discretionary resources available to provide such support.
The question is: How do you do it? There may be delicate family issues involved. Perhaps the grandparents' children are not financially responsible, causing the grandparents to have a natural concern about giving money to their children for the educational expenses of the grandchildren.

Making Sense of the New Tax Law

This 1,200-word article explains the broad impact of the Taxpayer Relief Act. It highlights the changes to estate taxes and capital gains taxes and provides new information on IRAs and tax breaks for homeowners.

As Estate Tax Revenues Continue to Grow, Planning Is Imperative

Estate taxes affected only just 1 percent of the taxpayers who died in 1995. But according to the chief of staff at Congress's Joint Committee on Taxation, estate taxes are going to impact even more taxpayers in the years ahead. Already growing at double digit rates, the government projects that estae taxes will add $35.3 billion to its coffers in the year 2007, affecting about 73,000 estates, or more than twice that in 1995. As this article makes clear, it's never been more important for consumers to look for ways to cut taxes.

Financing a College Education Becomes a Learning Experience

A higher education never had a higher price tag. Today a year of college tuition at a public school averages $8,562. In the year 2012, it will cost $81,000. But even as the tuition bills go ever higher, the need for a college degree becomes more crucial for success in the future. This article explains how parents and grandparents can use gifting strategies, such as the Custodial Account, to finance that costly, but priceless, higher education for a child.

Estate Planning and Marriage the Second Time Around

Today in 30 percent of the more than 2.3 milion marriage ceremonies performed each year, at least one of the partners has been there before. And in many of these remarriages, there are children from a previous marriage. This trend can make proper estate planning even more critical, and helps explain why the QTIP Trust is growing in popularity, as this article reveals.

Divorce, Taxes and Your Estate Plan

Over a million Americans will untie the knot this year, about half as many as those who say I do. While most in the throes of divorce are too caught up with the business at hand to think of the long-term estate-tax consequences, this article shows why they should keep their estate plans in mind as they negotiate their settlements. Otherwise, the newly divorced may well find the experience even more taxing than it needs to be.

When Do-It-Yourself Estate Planners Have Fools for Clients

As a growing number of Americans use software or do-it-yourself kits to do their own esate planning, many are finding that the end results are far from what they'd hoped. With several real-life case studies of do-it-yourself disasters, this article addresses the problems that consumers face when they try to avoid legal counsel for this most important task.

Estate Planning Tips for Divorced or Remarried Parents

In this era of divorce, remarriage and blended families, estate planning takes on special implications. This timely article presents estate planning guidelines parents need to know to protect their children and a new spouse.

What GLBT Couples Need: Estate Planning

This article addresses the estate planning need of an often affluent - and frequently neglected - market segment. Gay couples need to implement estate planning strategies to achieve what married couples take for granted as an operation of law. This article explores both the problems and the solutions that GLBT couples face.

What Every Senior Should Know About Probate

Why Seniors have even better reasons than most to avoid Probate is the subject of this article.

What Every Consumer Should Know About Probate

Just what is probate? It's a legal process used to dispose of your property when you die. If you own property in your own name, then probate will be required whether you die with a will or without one. Probate is also used to determine your fate and manage your affairs if you should become incapacitated and unable to do so for yourself.

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