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…
Despite what you might think, estate planning isn’t just for the rich and famous. In fact, your family is likely to benefit from a comprehensive plan that divides your wealth, protects your well-being and provides a compass for your family’s future. Dividing your wealth Estate…
Phote by Sarah Pflug from Burst Keep your estate planning documents Fresh and Local I often get calls from people who have just moved to Connecticut and are wondering if they need to update or revise their estate planning documents. What I usually say is…
I get quite a few questions from my clients about trusts. There are many kinds of trusts that can be used for many different purposes, including: setting aside and protecting assets for minor children protecting assets for someone in need of long-term care due to…
In 1958 J. Paul Getty was the richest man in the world. He even had his own listing verifying it in the Guinness Book of World Records. He was from wealth, his father was a successful wildcat oilman, J. Paul took over the old man’s…