Joan Crawford was one of Hollywood’s most iconic and interesting leading ladies. Joan lived a full life of family, scandals, rumors, and extravagance. After she died in 1977 it was discovered that she left an inheritance to two of her adoptive children, while disinheriting the other two.
Whether you have inherited some of your wealth or have built it yourself, you likely want to share this wealth with the next generation and beyond. The quote “shirtsleeves to shirtsleeves in three generations” has often been attributed to Andrew Carnegie. The same concept has been echoed by other people and various cultures, with the underlying notion being that the first generation builds the wealth, the second generation spends the wealth, and the third generation rarely sees any of the wealth. Here at The Law Offices of DuPont & Blumenstiel, we are committed to crafting estate plans that will disprove those words and provide for many future generations.
Carrie Fisher and her estate planning team created a proactive estate plan, which included an irrevocable living trust. The trust, however, was not funded. What went wrong and how was it rectified?
There are a few different ways to provide financial assistance to your family members throughout your lifetime. You can give gifts, without giving money to the IRS, if you follow a few simple rules. You can take advantage of current tax laws and exclusions surrounding Annual Gifts, Medical Expenses, and Educational Expenses.
Burt Reynolds died on September 6, 2018, at the age of 82 after reportedly suffering from a heart attack. He left behind a son, Quinton, and an estate worth around $3 million. One sentence in Reynolds's will create quite a commotion in the press; “I intentionally omit him (Quinton Reynolds) from this, my Last Will and Testament, as I have provided for him during my lifetime in my Declaration of Trust.” Was why Quinton disinherited?
A new Ohio law attempts to impose 'best interest' fiduciary standards onto life insurance and annuity providers. However, these standards are extremely vague and still leave from for abuse to consumers. Many annuity providers and so-called financial advisors plant their product as a solution to a variety of problems, when in reality another product is likely more useful. Below are 4 cautionary tales from clients that have come to us for help in the past. If any of these situations have happened to you or a loved one, or are currently happening, we encourage you to seek out additional financial tools and professionals.
Sir Roger Moore had amassed a fortune of £80 million by the time he died in 2017. His wife at the time, Kristina Throlstrup was said to have been given control of the majority of his estate. However, Ms. Throlstrup's son's claim that his mother is being charmed out of her own personal fortune has ensured that probate on Moore's will has not been settled.
Your 401(k) or IRA provides asset protection during your lifetime, but as soon as you pass those accounts on to a loved one, that protection evaporates. The creditors of your spouse, child or other loved one, will have the power to seize it and use the funds to salsify their claims. Fortunately, there is a solution to this problem called a standalone retirement trust (SRT) that can protect inherited retirement accounts from your beneficiaries' creditors.
Elizabeth Taylor structured her will as a revocable living trust, offering her and her beneficiaries privacy. This move prevented the details of her estate plan from becoming available to the public. However, this did not stop some of the details from seeping out.
A good leader starts by leading themselves. I had the pleasure of talking with my good friend Mary Rauchenstein on my podcast this week about what qualities a good leader posses, and what the differences are between a leader, mentor, coach and manager. You can use these strategies to start managing your own financial life.
