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It's easy to put off starting an estate plan.  However, you really do want to take care of your family. Why should you have an estate plan? There are many reasons and many goals, including providing for your spouse and children, as well as dealing with a family business, minimizing tax liability...

There are tools in an estate plan that a college student may need and are also beneficial to you. If your child is heading off to college you have prepared them already with background education and the ability to live away from home.

Second marriage? You've entered a brave, new world, when it comes to estate planning. A second marriage can sometimes create a problem, because the biggest reason that stepparents and stepchildren fight is over money, according to the AARP in “Don't Split Heirs With Your Estate.”

You may think your work is done when your estate plan is completed.  However, a remaining step may be informing the kids about what they face. If you wish to pass your estate on to your children, it might be a good idea to spend some time educating them about the challenges and responsibilities...

There are ways to give away money that help people and create some tax breaks. If you've reached a point in life where you feel you have enough and want to give your money away, it would be wise to consider what your family thinks about sharing your resources, according to the AARP...

There are many reasons to look at your old estate plan. What should not be forgotten is that everyone needs a will. There are many reasons to revisit your estate plan that don't include the new tax laws that doubled the individual estate gift and GST tax exemptions to about $11.2 million per...

Despite claims by his family, the second man to walk on the moon fights back. Buzz Aldrin, the 88-year-old astronaut, who was second to walk on the moon, has filed a lawsuit accusing two of his own children and his former manager of taking advantage of their roles in managing his assets...

There are many things to think about, when estate planning.  However, among the most crucial is to take potential family conflicts into consideration. A group of professionals including estate planning attorneys, trust officers, accountants, charitable giving professionals, insurance advisor...

An estate plan can protect a long-term partner. There are rarely provisions to protect people who are not married but are in long-term relationships. Many couples prefer to not get married.  However, there still is a way to protect partners through an estate plan, according to the San Franci...

Don't wait for retirement to launch your estate plan. People often put off estate planning, until they get older.  However, life events should trigger proper estate planning much sooner. This includes things like getting married or having children.

There is a lot of paperwork involved in transferring property and it needs to be done correctly. Ownership of property must be traced from one owner to another. However, when someone passes away, things change. There is now property that needs to change ownership.

Standard rules for dealing with digital accounts, have yet to be developed. Rules and regulations vary greatly between different states and between different websites on which people have accounts.  However, there are a few things everyone can do now to make it easier for others to handle their ...

Some estate planning mistakes should be avoided, but they aren't! Some basic mistakes should never be made in the first place.  However, unfortunately they happen over and over again. While a comprehensive list of these mistakes probably is not possible, a list of surprising errors we...

Foreign real estate can be difficult for estate planners, as well as heirs. Many countries have strict rules about who may inherit property. These rules are unlike anything in the U.S. Attorneys who practice in the foreign country need to be consulted, so any estate plan can take the foreign...

The estate has filed many lawsuits. This time it is suing the Walt Disney Company over a documentary. The Walt Disney Company is being sued by the Michael Jackson estate, over a documentary that includes footage of his two children, plus short clips of two of his songs.

Families are often silent about what should happen, if a parent becomes terminally ill or when a parent passes away. It is generally taken into consideration within a family, that a parent will some day pass away. However, it is not often discussed how painful this can be for the children...

There are many ways to transfer assets. The challenge is sometimes conflicting instructions. It is important that all the different ways assets can pass down do not contradict one another, or an estate plan may not be effective. A common problem that creates conflict was discussed recently....

Legislators have been working to provide greater access to digital assets for estate administrators. Estate plans almost have to include plans for what to do with digital assets these days.  However, many people are still confused about what digital assets actually are. There are four differ...

Creating an estate plan can be easy.  However, there are many opportunities to fail. The ease of writing your own will or downloading some forms from the Internet, can make you jump to the conclusion that you don't need professional assistance.

You are young, or you don't have many assets and that means you don't need an estate plan. Wrong! It is true that if people do not own any real estate and do not have any other property of high value, it will not be too difficult for their families to handle their estates.

Sometimes little thought is given in the choice of executor. That can create problems. The person in charge of your estate is the executor. Instead of thinking about whether the person they are choosing is the right person, many people just pick a close friend or relative.

Joint ownership means you don't have to go through probate.  However, the risks are high—very high. A parent will sometimes decide to add a child to the deed to their home and that means an equal share. It also means that if the child has creditors, they can seek to make claims against t...

Some parents want to give everything to their children right now … but wait! Unless you have an estate plan, before your children can inherit the estate it must to go through the probate process. That can be both expensive and time-consuming.

Digital assets need to be protected now.  However, they also need to be made available later. Protecting your digital assets before you pass away and making them available later, can create some conflicts. There are three basic complications, when it comes to planning for someone else to acc...

It may be wise to set up some review time for your estate plan, as life goes on. There are actually a few common things that can happen in your life that have an impact on your estate plan and they can be listed, according to the Huntsville Item in "When should you review your will?"