Good news in the form of a sudden windfall can put your family in a new financial position that may materially alter your legacy and estate plan. And while it may seem like a pure positive, it can also attract the attention of the Internal Revenue Service and prompt a ...

You never stop being a parent. Even when your child reaches adulthood, they are always in your thoughts—and, in many cases, your estate plan. There may be times when your adult children need you just as much—or more—than they did while growing up. If they are suddenly facing a disability, ...

You and your spouse planned a life together, and nothing can fully prepare you for their loss. Like most people, you may have let the thought cross your mind only to quickly push it away because it felt too painful to consider. But some level of planning is one of ...

Being named executor of someone’s estate is often viewed as an honor. It means the person who created the will trusted you to handle their affairs and carry out their wishes after death. But once the process begins, many executors discover that the role involves far more than distributing belongings ...

Comedian George Carlin once joked that a house is just a place to keep your stuff while you go out and get more. “Sometimes you gotta move, gotta get a bigger house,” he said. “Why? No room for your stuff anymore.”[1] For many Americans, that joke hits close to home. ...

A pot trust is a way to hold money and property for a group of beneficiaries, usually children or other family members, in one shared trust. Instead of dividing everything into separate shares right away, the assets stay together in a single fund, allowing the trustee (the person in charge ...

Many people own property in more than one state, such as an ocean-side vacation home or a rental property in a former home state. It is important to think about how that property will be handled after you pass away. Through proper estate planning, you can help minimize the burdensome ...

Real estate can be owned in several different ways. The form of ownership, or how your property is titled, can determine how much control you have over it, how vulnerable your property is to creditor claims and lawsuits, and what will happen to it at your death. Individual Ownership One ...

Noncitizen spouses are treated differently than US citizen spouses for estate and gift tax purposes.[1] They do not get the unlimited marital deduction. Married US citizen spouses can generally transfer unlimited amounts of money between each other during life or upon death in various qualifying ways without any gift or ...

Many famous figures have argued that how a society treats its most vulnerable members is a measure of its humanity and moral character. As Mahatma Gandhi famously observed, a society is ultimately judged not by its wealth or power but by how it uplifts those who need help the most. ...

Disability is often treated as a remote possibility, something that happens to other people. Yet one of the most persistent blind spots in planning conversations is disability risk. Disability is not limited to conditions that we are born with. It can arise for anyone, at any age, across income levels, ...

Most of us have been on a plane and heard the preflight safety instructions that include some version of the oxygen mask principle: Secure your own mask before assisting others. Why do they emphasize this point? Because you cannot effectively help someone else if you are struggling to breathe. Millions ...

Experts warn of a growing national crisis unrelated to politics, the economy, or the usual headline grabbers. It is a caregiving crisis, and it now touches nearly one-fourth of American adults. That means that either you are already feeling the strain of caregiving, or there may come a day when ...

An 80-year-old widower relied on his adult daughter for help with his daily life and finances for more than a decade. During that time, she managed his finances under a valid financial power of attorney, handling savings, pension income, and proceeds from the sale of his home. What began as ...

Progressive Insurance recently rolled out a series of commercials featuring “backup” quarterbacks stepping in to handle everyday challenges, such as ordering food, giving advice, and even parking a trailer. After the “backup” salvages the situation, each commercial ends with the same line: “If only there were backups in real life.” ...