So you’ve done the hard work of establishing an estate plan. Good on you, as they say across the Pond. However, you still have serious work to do to ensure that the strategy you’ve selected will maximize your peace of mind and protect your legacy.

Estate plans are...

You come into the world a blank slate, and as you grow, you gain wisdom. You've planned your estate to leave physical assets to beneficiaries, so now think about leaving them something that’s just as important but less tangible: the hard-won wisdom you’ve accumulated o...

No one wants unnecessary court involvement in their life. But without careful and proactive estate planning, chances are that some aspect of your estate will end up being decided there. 

Here are two of the most common ways court proceedings can make their way into the...

In estate planning circles, the word “probate” often comes with a starkly negative connotation. Indeed, for many people — especially those with larger estates — financial planners recommend trying to keep property out of probate whenever possible. That being said, the...

If your life or the law has changed since you signed your trust, it needs to be updated. Updates can be made by way of an amendment - or - a complete restatement. An amendment updates a specific part of the trust; whereas, a restatement, updates the entire trust. You m...

If you’re thinking about giving your children their inheritance early, you’re not alone. A recentMerrill Lynch study suggeststhat these days, nearly two-thirds of people over the age of 50 would rather pass their assets to the children early than make them wait until t...

On June 19, 2016, when successful actor Anton Yelchin (Chekov in the recent Star Trek movies) failed to show for rehearsal, his friends became worried and drove to his house. Sadly, they found Yelchin pinned between his security fence, brick mailbox, and Jeep Grand Che...

Media mogul Sumner Redstone – owner of CBS and Viacom, among other holdings – allegedlycreated quite an estate planning mess, according to a recent report in the New York Times. A June 2, 2016 (https://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/03/business/media/in-sumner-redstone-affair...

These four celebrity estate planning fiascos offer lessons about how to handle your own planning and legacies.

1.        Pablo Picasso– The great Dada artist died in 1973 at 91 without a will, a status referred to as “intestate.” Of course, Picasso isn't the first, or t...

If you've been appointed an executor of a loved one's estate, or a successor trustee, and that person dies, your grief – not to mention your to-do list, including tasks ranging from planning the funeral, coordinating relatives coming in from out of town and (eventually...