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“Searching for a lawyer who can help you put together a good estate plan, may seem like a daunting task. However, with a little help, you should be able to find several qualified lawyers to choose from.”

Finding an estate planning attorney who can help you create an estate plan that works for your family, is an important first step in creating an estate plan. You’ll want someone you are comfortable with, who is respected by other professionals and will be able to help your loved ones during emotional times. An article from The Balance, “Tips for Finding an Estate Planning Attorney,”{: target="_blank"} offers some useful pointers...

“It's difficult to determine exactly how much to save for retirement. Some people pick a round number, such as saving 10% or 15% of their salary, while others use an external cue, such as the amount of money that will be matched by an employer.”

Are you saving enough for retirement, asks US News & World Report in the article “Are Your Retirement Savings Ahead of the Curve?”{: target="_blank"} Maybe the better question to ask is more specific: How much income do you think you’ll need to replace your salary to pay for your chosen retirement lifestyle? Remember that even when you are not working, you’ll still need to cover healthcare ...

“People are storing important documents, such as wills and medical directives, online. While convenient, there are a few things to keep in mind before you open another online account, experts say.”

There are some clear benefits to storing your will and documents online. You and your spouse (or other authorized people) can access them anytime, from anywhere. We are used to putting our lives online. However, there are also some downsides to consider before doing so, according to a helpful article from CNBC titled “Here’s what you need to know before storing your will online.”{: target="_blank"}

It’s good to have all your important ...

While you’re refining your estate plan to live through your senior years, don’t forget about final arrangements.

For most folks, postponing thinking about their funeral is the status quo, until someone close to them dies or until they have a health scare. Worse, according to The North Platte Telegraph’s article, “Sunday Focus: Don’t wait to make a plan until it’s too late,” {: target="_blank"}they don’t address their demise at all, putting friends and family members in the position to have to guess what they would have wanted.

If you pre-plan your funeral, your family and loved ones are spared the unpleasant guessing game. ...

“Many seniors may be more focused on their bucket lists, than worrying about having their financial affairs in order.”

Seniors should be having some heart-to-heart discussions with their spouses and loved ones about their wishes concerning their assets and their final days, according to Intermountain Catholic in “Retirees Have Several Financial Issues to Consider.”{: target="_blank"} After a loved one dies, family members are often left dealing with the expenses of their medical care and funeral. To be left to deal with these issues while grieving, adds another layer of heartbreak. It doesn’t have to be this way.

Many people put ...

“In the coming decades, baby boomers in the U.S. are expected to transfer an estimated $30 trillion in assets to subsequent generations. For many families in Minnesota, that will include the family cabin.”

One of the key markers of summer in many areas is crowded roads, as folks head out of the city to their summer retreats, like the Outer Banks of the Carolinas or the Berkshire Mountains. They know it’s summer in Minnesota, when the roads are filled with families headed to lake cabins. The tradition may not last another generation, according to MinnPost’s in “The uncertain future of cabins in Minnesota.”

Millennials in their...

“The process of estate planning is only more painful, if one spouse has already passed. In this situation, a surviving elderly parent may enlist the assistance of their adult children to manage and divvy up finances.”

Having adult children actively involved with their mother or father, when the other spouse has passed is a blessing. However, sometimes too much of their influence can create unwanted and burdensome legal problems, especially if a parent is having diminished mental capacity. In an article from Caring.com, “How to Stay Respectful (and Legal) In Parents’ Estate Planning,”{: target="_blank"} adult children are advised...

“Since last year, the NAHB has seen a 30 percent increase in the number of its members seeking special training to help older clients who want to stay in their homes for as long as possible. Remodeling a house, is just one way to make that happen.”

The ultimate goal of aging in place is avoiding a move to an assisted living facility or a nursing home. For some people, it may mean staying in their current home or perhaps moving from a home with more than one level to a ranch with one level or an apartment building with an elevator. According to US News & World Report in the article “Tips to Help You Age in Place,” {: target=...

Many people assume that Revocable Living Trusts are just for wealthy people. However, the benefits that they can offer to someone with even minimal wealth are significant.

One of the more common questions for estate planning attorneys is asked and addressed in an article from thebalance.com, “Will or Revocable Living Trust—Which Do You Need?”{: target="_blank"} It’s a good question because many people don’t understand how important having a will is, even if you don’t have a large amount of property. The following are some factors to consider, when speaking with your estate planning attorney about wills and different types of trusts....

“The succession-planning process is complex and lengthy. To keep your eye on the ball and meet your goals, your family must meet regularly to foster good communication and trust.”

The future for a farm family depends on family meetings that involve all stakeholders. The likelihood of success is bolstered by meeting in a neutral location, holding short meetings on a regular basis and setting clear goals, according to AgWeb.com’s article “Family Meeting Fundamentals.”{: target="_blank"}

Families who want to hold one meeting a year that covers every single aspect of the succession plan, end up with a room full of confused and someti...

“Many times, people spend a great deal of time, energy and money creating an estate plan. However, the plan does not work, because their assets are not funded properly.”

Funding assets is a critical step in the estate planning process that is very frequently forgotten, as reported in The Farmer’s article “Funding assets to your estate plan.”{: target="_blank"}

Funding is the process of titling assets, so that the estate plan and the assets are aligned. Each estate plan is different. However, the funding process includes tasks such as changing ownership on accounts, establishing beneficiary designations and transfer on death desi...

“As baby boomers age, many are planning to downsize into smaller homes. However, preparing to live in a smaller space brings up a challenge: how do you get rid of all the stuff you’ve accumulated through the years.”

Maybe you always thought one of your daughters would want the silverware that you were so proud to inherit from your own mother. However, today’s millennials are not very interested in their parent’s stuff, even when it has market value. According to The Wall Street Journal’s recent article “Baby Boomers Are Downsizing and There’s A Problem: What To Do With All Their Stuff,”{: target="_blank"} it may be time ...

A New Jersey teacher left a surprisingly large gift for students in her Will with the intent of helping to pay for college.

Genevieve Via Cava taught for years as a special education teacher in Bergen County, New Jersey. She was not a particularly well-known person outside of those she taught. However, she was apparently a very frugal person and was able to amass a small fortune by saving as much money as she could and foregoing treats for herself. A longtime friend said that Via Cava even refused to get needed hearing aids because of the expense.

Via Cava passed away at the age of 89. Her frugality will pay off for future generations of...

There are many reasons that people get estate plans. However, those reasons fall into a few general categories.

People who do not have estate plans, often wonder why they should get one. People want to know what they and their family can get out of an estate plan. In large part, this depends on individual circumstances.

What assets a person has, how valuable those assets are and who they should go to after the person passes away, all make a big difference in answering why a person needs an estate plan. There is not a general answer that is truly going to be applicable to everyone.

However, there are three basic categories of reasons for...

To get the most out of Social Security benefits, it is very important that older Americans understand how the system works, before they start to get benefits. An alarming number do not.

On the surface, Social Security is a fairly simple concept to grasp. People pay into it, while they are working. When they retire, they then get paid benefits that are based on their income, when they were working. This seems simple enough. However, what the federal government does is often not that simple.

Social Security is actually a very complex system with all sorts of different rules people can use to get the most out of it. People need to...

When creating an estate plan, it is important you keep in mind the generation-skipping transfer tax.

In part, the federal estate tax is intended to make it, so wealth does not accumulate in one family indefinitely. It may be questionable how well the idea works. However, the idea is that as property passes down from succeeding generations in a family, the government will take a cut at each generation. People have often found ways around this.

One way around it, is by arranging for the inheritance to skip generations within a family. Instead of leaving property to their children, wealthy people would leave it to their grandchildren and...

Before you decide to use the forms of an online service for your legal documents, you should read the disclaimer on the website.

Some websites make it very easy to get legal documents prepared. All you do is pay a small fee, download some forms, read the directions and fill in the blanks on the form.

You can get all sorts of legal documents this way. This includes everything from starting a business to getting a will to getting divorce documents. Doing things this way, seems cheaper than going to an attorney to get the documents prepared. As a result, many people are serving as their own “lawyers” these days.

This loss of business doe...

People who inherit a lot of wealth and are not ready to deal with it, can run into a lot of problems.

Everyone is aware that it is not a good idea to let minor children inherit a lot of wealth and leave them to manage it on their own. The money would likely be wasted, and the children might then lack any motivation to go to school and get a job.

This is so obvious to people, that the law does not even allow it. If minors are left a large inheritance, the court will appoint someone to manage it on their behalf. However, many people assume that once a person matures, they are ready to handle large inheritances on their own.

Adults,...

The death of Matthew Mellon shows how a lack of planning can cause problems for an estate that contains a lot of cryptocurrency.

At the age of 21, Matthew Mellon, a member of the famous family of bankers, inherited $25 million through a trust that was created for him. Illustrating the dangers of giving that much money to someone so young, Mellon was not cautious with the money and developed a costly habit.

He recently passed away on the way to rehab, at the age of 54. If that was the entire story Mellon would be a good cautionary tale about why it is important to carefully structure large inheritances. However, there is more to the story...

It is a good idea to get organized, if you want to make things easier for your family after you pass away. Doing so is also likely to help you now.

Have you have ever needed to find a particular document and do not remember exactly where you put it? If the answer is yes, then you know how frustrating it can be to locate one piece out of a sea of documents.

For example, if you need your birth certificate and the last time you needed it you were in a rush and did not put it away in the right place, then finding it can be difficult and frustrating. People who are not fastidious about putting everything away in its proper place, end up doing...

Americans are increasingly acting as the primary caregivers for their elderly parents. This is something that they should make plans for ahead of time.

If you know you were going to have increased expenses in the future, you would be wise to plan ahead for how you will meet those expenses. This is something people do all the time. Someone who would like to buy a house, plans ahead to save the money needed for a down payment.

One future expense many Americans will face is the cost of acting as the primary caregivers for their elderly parents. Older Americans are living longer than ever before, and nursing homes continue to get more...

If you move to another state when you retire, there could be more options. Many older Americans are choosing other states to live in during their retirement years.

Traditionally, when Americans move after they retire, they choose to go to a state with a warm climate. Arizona and Florida are popular options. They have both developed the infrastructure and industries for elderly Americans to live comfortably and to get the services they need.

However, more and more retired people are choosing to move to other states. One trend is for people to move closer to their adult children, as The New York Times reports in "The New Retirement: Near...

Mothers often struggle when planning their estates. It is because they desire to provide for all of their children but come in conflict with a desire to make sure that all of their children are taken care of adequately.

Most mothers worry about their children, long after the children have grown up and moved out of the house. Wanting all their children to do well and live well, is something that never goes away. Mothers worry when anything happens that could prevent their children from living the good life.

However, most mothers also know that it is important to treat all their children equally. Showing favoritism to one child over the...

When planning for your estate, you can get bogged down in tax issues and forget about other concerns. However, it is important to remember that there are principles at stake, other than taxes.

Estate planning is not a valueless endeavor. When people start deciding how they would like their estates divided, their decisions are ultimately an expression of their values. However, sometimes during the process, people get so focused on the tax implications of estate planning that they forget about their other values.

Recently, Nightly Business Report discussed this and some important non-tax considerations in "What you don't know about estate...

It is important to make the right decisions with your estate plan, such as whether you should use a will or a trust. One decision is even more important, and it is common.

Perhaps the single greatest divide in estate planning is between those people who use a last will as their primary estate planning tool and those who use a revocable living trust instead. Choosing between using a will or a trust has a great impact on estate plans and often on what can be done with the estate plan.

Last wills must go through probate and be subjected to judicial oversight. This can be very expensive in some states. Trusts avoid probate. However, that...