Why are Beneficiary Designations Important in Estate Planning?
Vanguard has sent me a beneficiary designation verification letter. For the primary beneficiary, it says it will be the person I am married to at the time of my death. For the secondary beneficiary, it says, my descendants “per stirpes.” I have one child. Should the beneficiary designation include his name?
Major Life Events Necessitate Estate Plan Changes
If your life changes, so should your estate plan. Marriage, divorce, death of a spouse, a birth and a changing relationship with a child are just some of the life changes that may affect your estate plan.
Estate Planning Lessons from Celebrity Nightmares
The press has made much of the handwritten will that Larry King executed in the months before he died and in which he purports to change his prior will executed in 2015, to leave his estate equally between his children.
Equal Is Not Always Fair When Considering Inheritance
When you’re planning to divide your estate unequally, explain the reasons to your heirs, and remember: They might be hurt anyway.
Elder Law Essentials in Texas
Elder law is an aspect of estate planning focusing primarily on the needs of families and individuals as they age.
Don’t Delay Updating Your Estate Plan
Changes in tax law and in your personal life may mean that yours needs to be updated. Here are the easiest (and smartest) ways to do it.
Estate Planning Disaster: Divorce, Death and Missed Details
After the divorce, Mike logged onto the employer’s benefits system and tried, but failed, to delete Wendy as the beneficiary of his life insurance.
These Celebrities Didn’t have Wills…But You Should
When the rapper Coolio died in September, he joined a group of notables that includes Prince, Howard Hughes and Pablo Picasso—all of whom died without specifying who should inherit their money and estate.
How to Protect an Estate from a Rotten Son-in-Law
Whatever the reason, whether your life is a bed of roses or a getting-worse-nightmare, there are things you can do now to insure what you leave will go to who you want. And when. And in what portion or portions.
Can a Vacation Home Be Kept in the Family for Generations?
These vacation homes may also comprise a significant portion of the family’s wealth. Therefore, it’s understandable that homeowners want to pass their properties and family traditions to future generations.
