Estate planning, once limited to human beneficiaries, has now extended to include beloved pets in order to provide for their well-being after the owner’s death.
A trustee is a person or entity who’s appointed to manage assets held in trust on behalf of a third party. There are few formal restrictions on who can serve as a trustee.
If you plan to pass assets through a will, just remember that most of the time, that will becomes public once the probate estate is closed. Therefore, if you left one of your children out, left your favorite a bit more or are just a private person, you may be better off with a trust.
There are important differences between the two types of trusts, including the amount of control you’ll have over your assets.
A document usually included in an estate planning package is a financial power of attorney. What is a financial power of attorney?
Whether planning as the predecessor or the next generation, having the right processes — and partners — in place will set up the transition for success.
Have you found an executor (also known as a personal representative) to handle your affairs should you become incapacitated or die?
The distribution of wealth among beneficiaries through your final will and testament is often a complex and sensitive issue, one that can potentially spark conflicts and legal challenges among family members.
We have a situation where both of my in-laws passed away in the last several years. My wife was the daughter and she and her brother are the executors to the last of my in-laws to pass away.
Before the original SECURE Act, IRA owners who died were able to leave their accounts to their children, grandkids, or other non-spouse individual beneficiaries, and heirs could stretch required minimum distributions (RMDs) over their own lifetimes, thus allowing the funds in the accounts to grow tax-free for decades.
