A blog by Steve Basche, partner at the firm of Brown, Paindiris & Scott, LLP
Using a revocable trust — sometimes referred to as a “living trust” — is a common estate planning strategy to manage assets during life and to avoid probate at death. For the trust to be effective, you must “fund” it, meaning transferring ownership of your…
Covid-19 Update I understand the last few days and weeks have probably caused you some anxiety not just about the volatile financial markets, but also – maybe primarily- about your health and the health of those you love and care about. I’m an estate planning lawyer…
What if the unthinkable happens and your spouse dies unexpectedly? Would you be prepared to cope emotionally and financially? As the surviving spouse, you’ll face several tasks and challenges. First steps first By no means complete, the following are areas that will need to be…
Estate planning typically focuses on what happens to your children and your assets when you die. But it’s just as important to have a plan for making critical financial and medical decisions if you’re unable to do so yourself. A crucial component of this plan…
Have you coordinated your payable-on-death accounts with your estate plan? Payable-on-death (POD) or Transfer-on-death (TOD) accounts provide a quick, simple and inexpensive way to transfer assets outside of probate. They can be used for bank accounts, certificates of deposit or even brokerage accounts. Setting one…
Virtually everyone needs an estate plan, but it isn’t a one-size-fits-all proposition. Even though each person’s situation is unique, we do have general guidelines depending on your current stage of life. The early years If you’ve recently embarked on a career, gotten married or both,…
When drafting your estate plan, you and your attorney must account for what happens to your children and your assets after you die. But your plan must also spell out your wishes for making financial and medical decisions if you’re unable to make those decisions…
If you’re divorcing, it’s important to review your estate plan as early as possible, for two reasons: First, you may wish to revise your plan immediately to prevent your spouse from inheriting or gaining control over your assets if you die or become incapacitated before…
Protecting assets from your creditors is often a critical aspect of estate planning, but you need to think about more than just your own creditors: You also need to consider your heirs’ creditors. Adding spendthrift language to a trust benefiting your heirs can help safeguard…
Choosing the right executor — sometimes known as a “personal representative” — is critical to the smooth administration of an estate. Yet many people treat this decision as an afterthought. Given an executor’s many responsibilities and complex tasks, it pays to put some thought into…