When people think of someone setting up a Trust for their pet, they might imagine Leona Helmsley’s pet Maltese named Trouble drinking Perrier from a crystal bowl in a lavish Manhattan penthouse. While Helmsley left $12 million to her pet dog, this was not her only bizarre moment. The “Queen of Mean” was known to have many eccentricities. However, you don’t have to be rich and eccentric to set up a Pet Trust. Pet Trusts are most commonly set up by caring individuals who just want to make sure … [Read more...]
You’re “baby” is 18, now what?
We've found that most people are not aware that even though they pay the medical insurance bill for their young adult, they ARE NOT entitled to their 18+ year old’s medical and financial information. Even in the best of times, high school graduates - now adults - should create powers of attorney naming their parents or other trusted adults as their financial agents and medical proxies should they become temporarily incapacitatedThis is especially relevant during times of a public health … [Read more...]
The Basics: Financial Power of Attorney
This is the first in a three-part series of articles on Powers of Attorney. This first article examines the Financial Power of Attorney. See two real-life examples of when having a Power of Attorney would turn out to be useful: read more … [Read more...]
Facing Reality: The Essence of Family Business Succession Planning
Written By: The American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys A simple search online these days can turn up lots of advice regarding the importance and benefits of buy-sell agreements, deferred compensation agreements, and life insurance in family business succession planning. While knowing this information is valuable when thinking about the transition of a family business from one generation to the next, none of it will come into play until a business owner is prepared to face reality … [Read more...]
Who can contest a will?
In order to have standing to contest a will, you need to prove that something about how the will was written may be illegal. You won’t have standing if the will is ironclad, even if the distribution of assets may seem unfair. The following parties have standing to contest a will: Beneficiaries already named in the willBeneficiaries named in a previous will, who were written out of the most recent version of will, or whose share of the estate was significantly decreased by the newest … [Read more...]
