How to Name a Trustee
What are the obligations of a trustee in managing an estate?A well designed estate plan often requires putting a revocable trust in place which can help to avoid probate and specify how your beneficiaries will receive the assets. Once the trust is established, you will be named as the trustee so...
How to Name a Trustee Continue reading…
Using Estate Planning to Prepare for the Unimaginable: The Death of Your Spouse
Should you plan for a time when your spouse predeceases you?You love your spouse so much that it causes you great pain to think about his or her death. But, this pain is nothing compared to the agony you will face should your spouse predecease you without an estate plan in place. Estate...
Using Estate Planning to Prepare for the Unimaginable: The Death of Your Spouse Continue reading…
Protect Yourself & Your Loved Ones from Elder Abuse
Have you ever seen the movie Happy Gilmore? It’s an Adam Sandler comedy about a wannabe hockey player that takes up professional golf in order to make enough money to save his beloved grandmother’s home from foreclosure. While Happy is out playing on the PGA tour, his grandma is placed in a nursing...
Protect Yourself & Your Loved Ones from Elder Abuse Continue reading…
Why Digital Assets Should Be Part of An Estate Plan
What happens to my social media accounts after I die?Technological innovation is shaping many aspects of our lives as more of our affairs are conducted digitally. Through the widespread use of email and social media accounts, computer storage of digital pictures, online bank and investment accounts, many...
Why Digital Assets Should Be Part of An Estate Plan Continue reading…
Shocking New Report on VA Benefits Makes National News, But Part of the Story is Missing
The New York Times has finally caught on to something we have known here in the Carolinas for quite some time - veterans are being denied benefits by the VA at an all-time high rate. This is a serious issue that is impacting a lot of young men and women from both North...
Shocking New Report on VA Benefits Makes National News, But Part of the Story is Missing Continue reading…
Avoiding a Family Feud After Your Death
What steps can you take to decrease the risk that your loved ones will fight over your estate?It happens all too often. A person dies and their children go to war over the estate. One claims she was promised the silver and another stakes a claim for an antique piece...
Avoiding a Family Feud After Your Death Continue reading…
Keep Your Beneficiary Designations Up to Date
When should I update my beneficiary designations?A well-designed estate plan is one that considers the changes that occur during an individual's lifetime, such as getting married, having children, or getting divorced. In addition to keeping your estate planning documents, such as a trust, a will, and powers of attorney, up-to-date, it is...
Keep Your Beneficiary Designations Up to Date Continue reading…
The Use of QTIP Trusts in Estate Planning Involving Second Marriages
How should you protect the division of your assets after a second marriage?In this era of second (or even multiple) marriages, stepchildren, and blended families, QTIP (qualified terminable interest property trusts) are extremely helpful in estate planning. When you have married for the second time and have children from your first...
The Use of QTIP Trusts in Estate Planning Involving Second Marriages Continue reading…
Hybrid Long-Term Care Policies
How can I plan for long-term care?Given the fact that people are living longer, the cost of medical coverage during their older years is a matter for individuals to consider as part of their estate planning. Long-term care for nursing home patients can cost as much as $90,000 per year, according...
Hybrid Long-Term Care Policies Continue reading…
A Primer on Business Succession Planning
What are the essentials of a business succession plan?In launching a new business, entrepreneurs need to consider what the best business structure will be and how to arrange for funding, as well the how to bring their products to the market. What many startups fail to recognize is the need for
A Primer on Business Succession Planning Continue reading…