» Estate Planning Basics

A power of attorney allows a person you appoint — your “attorney-in-fact” or agent — to act in your place for financial or other purposes when and if you ever become incapacitated or if you can’t act on your own behalf. There are four main… Read More

More and more, we are conducting our business on the Internet, whether that’s online banking, shopping at Amazon and other sites, uploading documents, photos, and files to the “cloud,” posting videos on YouTube, or communicating with high schoo… Read More

Utilizing beneficiary designation is a legitimate method or estate planning. However, failure to “properly” establish such designations can create many unintended and unfortunate consequences. In addition, even if done properly there are limitati… Read More

More than 4 in 10 Americans have at least one step-relative in their family – either a stepparent, a step or half sibling or a stepchild — according to the Pew Research Center. The National Center for Family and Marriage Research estimates that… Read More

Once you’ve created an estate plan, it is important to keep it up to date. You will need to revisit your plan after certain key life events. Marriage Whether it is your first or a later marriage, you will need to update your estate plan after you g… Read More

All trusts should be reviewed every few years to make sure that they are up-to-date with the law and meet your goals today. Following is a checklist of trust features you can review yourself. But be aware that these only refer to revocable “living�… Read More

Have you been officially asked to manage someone else’s money? For example, have you been named as an agent under a power of attorney or appointed trustee of a trust? As our society ages, more and more people are being asked to take on these roles,… Read More

The Senate passed a compromise bill, the American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012, to avert the fiscal cliff at about 2 a.m. January 1, 2013, by an overwhelming 89-8 vote. The House passed the bill with a 257-167 vote at 10:45 p.m.  President Obama sign… Read More