You and your spouse have recently divorced, and the judge has signed the divorce decree. Now what? Although you may feel that you have spent enough time and money on lawyers, there is one last attorney you need to talk to: an estate planning attorney. If you and your former ...

In 2025, what is the total amount of money and property you can gift during your lifetime and leave at your death to your loved ones (other than to your spouse) without owing federal estate tax? $5 million $15 million $13.99 million as much as you want The correct answer ...

What comes to mind when you think of the typical American family? Today’s families take many different forms: Some are blended through divorce and remarriage while others are built through long-term partnerships, adoption, or fostering. Families may include same-sex or opposite-sex couples; married or unmarried partners; or children from different ...

We all have those nagging to-do items that never seem to make it to the top of our list, even though we know how important they are. Maybe it is scheduling a checkup with the doctor, calling the HVAC company to inspect that noisy furnace, or starting the fitness routine ...

Bookending the first week of September with Labor Day is a less recognized holiday that may not get much national attention but should if you are planning for your future: National 401(k) Day. Though we are in an era of overall declining economic confidence, many Americans are still somewhat upbeat ...

Happy National Stepfamily Day to all who celebrate it! Amid shifting family structures, there is a good chance that you are part of a stepfamily—or know somebody who is—which makes September 16 a perfect day to celebrate. At its heart, National Stepfamily Day is a celebration of second chances and ...

Who wants to live to be 100? That depends on who you ask. Whatever the answer, one thing is clear: The odds of reaching that milestone are rising, along with the length of retirement and the number of life changes that come with it. Life expectancy gains in the US ...

Actor Val Kilmer’s passing in April 2025 highlights estate planning issues that can affect almost anyone. Although Kilmer was a celebrity, these issues—including managing real estate in more than one state, deciding what happens with digital assets, and using charitable gifts to leave a legacy and help reduce estate taxes—are ...

Born into an impoverished Houston household in 1949, George Foreman lived a rags-to-riches tale of pure Americana: Olympic gold medalist, heavyweight boxing champion, ordained minister, global pitchman, and father to a dozen children. At the time of his death on March 21, 2025, his estate was estimated to be valued ...

Regis Philbin, the Guinness World Record holder for the most hours on US television, was a familiar face in millions of homes for decades. By the time he retired from his show Live with Regis and Kelly in 2011, he had spent more than 16,740 hours in front of the ...

Signed into law on July 4, 2025, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) has made a sweeping change to the federal estate and gift tax landscape—one that significantly impacts families with substantial assets and those looking to create a legacy. Here’s what you need to know, and what you ...

In a modern world marked by information overload, overflowing inboxes, nonstop notifications, and the constant pressure to accumulate more stuff, minimalism offers a compelling counternarrative. Born from the mid-twentieth century artistic rebellion and revived in the 2010s on the back of increased digital clutter, climate anxiety, and economic strain, minimalism ...

As the federal estate tax exemption has ballooned from $5 million in 2011 to $13.99 million today, the need for estate tax planning has drastically decreased. However, with a top marginal income tax rate of 37 percent, the focus of estate planning has shifted to a new frontier: income tax ...

The irrevocable life insurance trust (ILIT) has long been a staple of estate planning. This tool is designed to hold life insurance policies and remove the death benefit proceeds from an individual’s taxable estate (meaning that the value is not subject to estate tax) while also providing liquidity to cover ...

The modern insurance market dates to seventeenth-century London, where merchants reeling from the Great Fire of London started pooling funds to cover fire losses. Today, this same basic concept—pooling risk to protect individuals and businesses from catastrophic loss—underpins nearly every sector of the global economy. The US insurance market, the ...