Life insurance can be a powerful tool in your estate plan. It can provide financial support for your spouse or heirs when you’re gone. If your estate is taxable, life insurance may be used to pay estate taxes and other expenses. As with…
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Pat Summitt, 59, the celebrated coach of the University of Tennessee women’s basketball team, resigned her post this week, less than a year after being diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer’s Disease. Alzheimer’s Disease tends to progress more quickly in younger patients…
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A shout-out to Attorney Greg Herman-Giddens, who posted this excellent piece on his North Carolina Estate Planning Blog. It’s easy to tell horror stories about the trouble clients get into with do-it-yourself estate planning forms. His post instead concentrates on all the positive…
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How do Americans feel about taxes? You might think you know the answer, but surprisingly, a Pew Research Center survey back in December revealed that over half of Americans think that what they pay in taxes is “about right.” People…
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The just-released film “The Descendants” has an estate planning subplot that masterfully portrays how difficult it can be to satisfy all family members when an estate planning pie must be divided and distributed. Matt King, played by George Clooney, is…
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Don’t panic: If you are a Florida resident with a valid Durable Power of Attorney (DPOA) signed before October 1, 2011, it will still be valid after Oct. 1. You do not need to do anything. You do not need…
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South Florida radio personality Neil Rogers died Dec. 24 at the age of 68. You either loved him or hated him. He had no close family, but left behind legions of bereaved fans. And he left behind something else: Two contradictory Wills. The…
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It’s said only death and taxes are certain. Most of us give taxes the necessary attention (especially this time of year). But when it comes to that other certainty, we tend to stick our heads in the sand. A March…
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Looks like Bernie Madoff’s youngest son Mark didn’t do what we always recommend our estate planning clients do: Review his estate plan whenever there’s a substantial change in financial or family circumstances. And what changes there were in the Madoff family circumstances…
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If you have a loved one with a disability and wish to provide for the individual without jeopardizing his/her access to vital government benefits – Medicaid or SSI, for example – you could set up an individual Special Needs Trust….
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