You can’t put together an estate plan to accomplish your intentions if you don’t know what those intentions are. While it might be hard to think through those issues for the very first time, it’s an exercise that is well worth it. The very first step in getting your estate plan in order is making the decision to move forward on this important project. It might not necessarily be completely easy or accomplished in Read More
When Should I Update My Power of Attorney?
Many of the same events that would prompt you to update your estate planning documents like a will should cause you to reconsider whether or not your power of attorney still makes sense. This can include recently having gotten married and wanting to designate your spouse as your agent, getting separated or divorced from your current spouse, a child or other family member who is grown in maturity and has shown they Read More
Does a Trust Take Care of Everything in My Estate Planning?
A trust is an important tool that makes a lot of sense in its various forms for the right person. However, it is a mistake to assume that an estate planning trust will accomplish each and every one of your estate planning goals. Most sizeable estate planning strategies incorporate a revocable or an irrevocable trust in some format and it's important to recognize what this process actually means for you as well as Read More
What Do Opportunity Costs Have to Do with Your Financial Plan?
Every time you make a decision in life, you’re choosing to say “yes” to one thing and “no” to all the other options available to you. That’s known as opportunity cost. There’s an opportunity cost with how you structure your financial and estate plan, too! With limited resources, you have to make judgment calls about what you do and who gets what. A comprehensive financial and estate plan includes many different Read More
October 19-25 is National Estate Planning Awareness Week
It is estimated that less than half of Americans have an estate plan. To increase awareness about the importance of estate planning, Congress adopted National Estate Planning Awareness Week in 2008, which is observed annually during the third full week of October. Why is estate planning so important? On the most basic level, it allows you to take complete control of your affairs and protect your assets now and in Read More
Is Spending Too Much Jeopardizing Your Retirement Plan?
There are many different mistakes that you could make in the wake of saving for retirement and ensuring that you have protected your interest as you get closer to 65 or your anticipated retirement age. As you get closer to retirement, it becomes very important to update your financial plan and ensure that you have a budget established to align with your income sources. As you get closer to your retirement, you'll Read More
What Is a Specific Bequest?
There are many different questions that can come up during the estate planning process and one of them can involve whether or not to use specific bequests inside your will. Some people have the perception that leaving behind specific bequests sets your other beneficiaries up for potential conflict over the contents of the will. Specific bequests refer to leaving a certain asset to an individual or multiple Read More
Four Important Terms Related to Powers of Attorney
A power of attorney can be specially crafted to align with your individual needs and expectations. It is very important to familiarize yourself with some of the different aspects of different power of attorney forms to ensure that you have selected the right type of power of attorney based on your individual circumstances and the person you intend to appoint. A power of attorney allows you to name an individual Read More
Adding and Removing a Power of Attorney
You can find many different power of attorney forms online. However, this is gamble because what seems like minor mistakes in these templates or forms could prove very problematic in the very circumstances you need someone to use a power of attorney. It is very helpful to instead talk with an estate planning lawyer about your specific needs so that they can recommend the documents and language that would work the Read More
What You Should Know About Testamentary Trusts
There are many different components to a comprehensive estate plan and one of these could be a testamentary trust. This legal document is usually drafted inside of your will and becomes effective at the time of your death as part of your estate planning strategy in NH. Benefactors are able to exert some control over the distribution of how their assets are passed on to loved ones by using a testamentary trust. This Read More
