5 Estate Planning Tips for the Non-Traditional Family
Is your family of the “Leave It to Beaver” variety -- opposite-gender parents, the first marriage for each, one or more kids, all healthy and thriving? If so, your estate plan will probably be pretty [...]
Estate Planning for Young Families
Given how much parents of young children have on their plates, it’s understandable that estate planning isn’t typically at the top their to-do lists. But the truth is, once you have children, estate planning becomes [...]
Caregiver Support is Critical for the Whole Family
All too often, the task of caring for an elderly, disabled or terminally ill family member falls entirely—or nearly so—to one family member. Sometimes this happens by default, because one family member lives near the [...]
Inheritance Shouldn’t Be a Secret
Family wealth and inheritance can have a significant impact on the younger generation’s options and standard of living. But, contrary to popular belief, that impact isn’t always positive. In one 25-year study of thousands of [...]
Estate Planning for Children Involves More than Legal Arrangements
As a parent, you want to ensure that your children are well cared for and provided for if you should pass away or become incapacitated while they are still dependent on your support. So, as [...]
Estate Planning Documents to Review Before a Divorce
Many people neglect to update some or all of their estate planning documents when they divorce, while others move quickly to change beneficiaries and make other updates after a divorce. However, some estate planning changes [...]
Options for Updating Your Will in New Jersey
For most people, writing a will isn’t a one-and-done event. Unless your will is drafted very near the end of your life, chances are good that changes over your lifetime will make it necessary to [...]
The Most Challenging Estate Planning Issues May Surprise You
Earlier this year, a survey of estate planning professionals across a range of professions revealed that the biggest obstacle in the estate planning process isn’t taxes, legal requirements, or expense—it’s your family. More specifically, 44% [...]
Estate Planning for Older Parents
A combination of advances in medical science, longer life spans, people marrying later, second marriages, and other factors mean that many Americans have children later in life than was the norm just a generation ago. [...]
What To Do When a Loved One Passes Away
Whether your spouse has just passed away or you have lost your mom or dad, the emotional trauma of losing a loved one often comes with a bewildering array of financial and legal issues demanding [...]
Estate Planning For the Newly Married
Now is the perfect time to start working on an estate plan—because, as newlyweds, you may not have a list of your accounts, but you've effectively just done a working inventory of your possessions—as you've [...]
Kids Going Away To College? Why You Should Include Estate Planning in the Preparation
You may have been running around for weeks, getting your new college student off to school. It's exhilarating, and your heart likely is bursting at the seams. You're probably prouder than you can say, but [...]
The Perils of Joint Property
People often set up bank accounts or real estate so that they own it jointly with a spouse or other family member. The appeal of joint tenancy is that when one owner dies, the other [...]
Tools You Can Use to Leave Words of Wisdom to the Next Generation
You come into the world a blank slate, and as you grow, you gain wisdom. You've planned your estate to leave physical assets to beneficiaries, so now think about leaving them something that’s just as [...]