When a spouse dies, the estate plan you built together keeps going, but it was designed for two people. Now it needs to work for one. The first weeks after a loss bring a long list of urgent tasks. Updating your estate plan is not typically one of them, at least not right away. This post picks up after that…
When people think about an estate plan, they usually think about the trust itself: who serves as trustee, who inherits and when, how the house is titled. Those are the right questions. But one asset often sits outside that conversation: life insurance, and specifically, who is named as its beneficiary. Many people bought a policy years ago, filled out a…
The first days after a death do not feel like the days that came before. Everything continues — the mail, the bills, the calendar — but you are not the same person receiving them. The family calls come first. The funeral arrangements come next. And then, sooner than you expect, the practical questions begin to arrive. Do you have the…
They finally sat down at the kitchen table on the Fourth of July. The kids were outside, the barbecue was going, and for the first time in a decade the whole family was in the same house. The conversation started casually — one of the adult children asking her mother whether the will was still current. It had been drafted…
Big Three from Episode #058: Parents can nominate someone for guardianship, but only the judge can appoint someone. As a parent, make sure your wishes are clearly expressed in your estate plan; otherwise, you will have absolutely no say in the matter. Choose potential guardians that you can trust to make sure things get done. Time-stamped Show Notes: 2:30 –…
The divorce rate in the United States is approximately 50%. The “gray” divorce rate – among persons age 50 and over — has doubled between 1990 and 2010, according to a recent Bowling Green University study. If you are middle aged or above, married and are contemplating a divorce or are currently embroiled in divorce proceedings, here are some suggestions…
In California, a document called a small estate affidavit may be used to transfer an estate’s assets to the proper beneficiaries without having to open a formal probate proceeding with the court. To use a small estate affidavit, the estate must meet the following basic legal requirements: The basic requirements to use a small estate affidavit are the estate’s probate…