25

Aug

Why a Trust for Your Child Should Mature with Your Child

From the moment a child is born, a parent feels an instinctive drive to protect and nurture. We childproof our homes, choose the best schools with care, offer guidance through adolescence, support their career ambitions, and watch with pride as they build lives of their own. That...

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25

Aug

Planning for the Unthinkable: Essential Tools for Parents of Minor Children

Did you know that roughly 75% of Americans don't have a basic will 1? Even more concerning is that many of these individuals have children under the age of 18, leaving their families vulnerable to unnecessary legal complications and uncertainty. Estate planning is often mis...

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25

Aug

Do It Now: Name a Guardian for Your Minor Children

We know it is difficult, even horrific, to imagine someone else raising your children. However, you must consider who you would choose to fill this important role. Otherwise, a judge—a stranger who does not know you or your wishes, your child, or your relatives and friends&...

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25

Aug

What to Do with Grandma’s Ring: Dividing Personal Property in an Estate

If you have a beloved late grandmother, many images and memories may come to mind when you reminisce about her. You might picture her at her home or at the family vacation house during the holidays. Your memory could be a special meal that only she prepared for you or a place she...

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25

Aug

Won’t My Spouse and Kids Inherit Everything When I Die?

You may think that if you die while you are married, everything you own will automatically go to your spouse and children. But you are actually thinking of state rules that apply if someone dies without leaving a will. In legal jargon, this is referred to as dying intestate. In t...

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25

Aug

What Is a General Power of Appointment?

Your family, the economy, the law, and society can change rapidly and unexpectedly, affecting your best-laid estate plans in unpredictable ways. To achieve your estate planning goals, you need a plan that can keep up with the changes. And few estate planning tools provide more fl...

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25

Aug

Preparing Your Senior for the Real World

High School Seniors Can Use a Starter Estate PlanThe long, carefree days of summer are nearing an end. If you have a high school senior at home, childhood is also coming to an end for them as they prepare to graduate, turn 18, and enter the “real world. ”You have don...

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25

Aug

5 Tragic Mistakes People Make When Leaving an Inheritance to Their Pets

Planning for your pets in your estate plan is an excellent way to ensure that your beloved pet will receive proper care and attention after you pass on. The problem, of course, is that you will not be there to ensure that your wishes are carried out. That is why it is critical to...

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25

Aug

3 More Famous Pet Trust Cases and the Lessons We Can Learn from Them

Sometimes, pet owners can get a bit creative when providing for their pets' future care. The following three famous cases involving pet trusts offer some important lessons. David Harper and RedDavid Harper, a wealthy, reclusive bachelor in Ottawa, Canada, was not exactly f...

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25

Aug

3 Famous Pet Trust Cases and the Lessons We Can Learn from Them

Not long ago, pet trusts were thought of as little more than eccentric things that famous people did for their pets when they had too much money. These days, pet trusts are considered much more mainstream. For example, in 2016, Minnesota became the fiftieth state to legally recog...

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