Paul Newman had built a massive estate by the time he passed away and had a detailed plan in place for distributing that estate fairly. It’s a perfect example of what can be achieved when an estate plan is given the attention and thought it deserves.
When spouses die at the same time, the probate process can become needlessly extensive. It happens frequently enough that the State of Ohio has laws to address the issue, formally called simultaneous death. What are these laws, why do we need them, and can we work around them if we need to?
James Dean was just 24 years old when he perished in an auto accident in 1955. Few legends have lived on quite like his. In spite of being raised by his Aunt and Uncle, his Father became his heir due to the fact that Dean died without a will. James Dean did not get to decide what happened to his assets. But you can decide what will happen to yours.
The concept of trusts is another area within estate planning that can create a great deal of confusion for people unfamiliar with the law. In this article, we hope to clarify some of the different types so that, when you encounter them, you can avoid confusion and better determine which tools are appropriate for your situation.
Your estate plan is just that. A plan. It's what you want to happen and like all plans, it's subject to change over time. Having a carefully thought-out plan is one of the most important things you can do for your loved ones. David Bowie's estate plan was simple and to the point, but not necessarily the most suitable for his or his family's needs.
The worst way to invest is by acting on emotions. When unexpected changes occur in the economy, most people tend to panic. Financial resilience isn’t about avoiding all those bad things that can happen to you (for example, a pandemic, or getting laid off) because, inevitably, those things will happen. Instead, financial resilience is about being able to deal with those things when they do happen. In this post, we’ll detail how to build up your financial resilience.
Bob Marley did not create a will, believing that such a document showed an inappropriate concern with earthly matters. He died at the age of 36, May 11th, 1981. The legal battles over his estate lasted for four decades.
Term life insurance is a good start for young professionals, but there are many more types of insurances out there, with better features, that can better benefit you, your family, and your beneficiaries. In this post we'll discuss term insurance, whole life insurance, universal life insurance, variable life insurance, variable universal life insurance, survivorship life insurance, first-to-die insurance, and single premium whole life insurance.
Princess Diana’s last wishes were largely ignored by her family. The executors of her estate, her mother and her sister, successfully petitioned the probate court for a "variance" of the will. To this day their motivation is unclear and the changes to her wishes were kept secret. Could this have been avoided?
Over the past few weeks, I've been asking my clients to send me their most recent tax return. By looking through their returns for missed opportunities and mistakes, there's a few patterns I've noticed.
