Absent fraud, duress, undue influence or a few other rare reasons whether you agree with a decedent’s estate plan is Irrelevant. It is amazing how often I have to explain to someone that just because your pain in the ass relative left all her money to her cats doesn’t mean you should complain about it… Continue Reading
Category Archives: Estate Planning
What is Portability in Estate Planning?
There were a lot of tax law changes (as well as a lot of things that were kept the exact same) when President Obama signed into law the Unemployment Insurance Reauthorization and Job Creation of Act of 2011, but there was one change that simply put, shocked me. It was the brand new idea that… Continue Reading
Money Can do Good Things Money Can do Bad Things
I was reading the January/February 2011 issue of Money Magazine when I came across the “Readers to the Rescue Section.” This particular issue’s question was “Is it okay to stipulate in a will how inherited funds may be spend?” First, thing is first, someone’s will is based on the eventual decedent’s testamentary intent, and if… Continue Reading
Please Don’t Use an Automated System to Draft Your Last Will and Testament
I can’t believe I haven’t written about this in 2 years of blogging, but I cringe every time I see a personal finance blogger recommend one of those Will preparation services/sites. Every single week, I review at least 3 (and sometimes up to 10) Wills written by trained and licensed attorneys. While I find mistakes,… Continue Reading
What Type of Will Do You Have? Review of a Simple Will
As part of my day job I review a lot, and I mean a lot of Wills. Most Last Wills and Testaments are structured the same way; all assets are left to the surviving spouse and upon the second death to the children, outright. This type of structure is usually referred to as a Simple… Continue Reading
Health Care Documents are Often Forgotten When Creating A Will
Do you have a Living Will and a Health Care Proxy? As I drafted a Last Will and Testament tonight, I thought to myself do people understand what these ancillary documents are, or better yet, do people know they even exist? While the documents themselves aren’t entirely difficult to understand, the choices you have to… Continue Reading
