Robert, the older brother, and Lon, the younger one, were close as they were growing up in the Queens borough of New York City. However, when their mother passed away and left the bulk of her estate to Robert, Lon was devastated.
An estate plan works like the operating system on your phone or computer. It runs in the background. However, it needs occasional updates to keep the plan current.
The financial consequences of a diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease or any one of the rarer dementias can easily fall to the family of the patient. In any diagnosis that includes declining mental health, it’s important to get one’s financial house in order.
One of the biggest challenges that clients encounter during the process is deciding who to appoint as their trustees, powers of attorney, health care surrogates and executors.
Just 34% of adult Americans have an estate plan and 37% of respondents said they didn’t have a plan at the ready.
Life insurance is often a cornerstone of a comprehensive estate plan, particularly when an estate consists of largely illiquid assets.
When preparing estate planning documents, certain beneficiaries may need more protection than others. One particular class of beneficiaries that needs to be intentionally considered is minor children.
It is your right to keep your health information private, but is that always what is in your best interests?
An element of advance care planning, a living will is a legal document that provides specific instructions on how to carry out your wishes to receive or decline such treatments when you otherwise can’t communicate those wishes yourself.
There are two documents everyone needs in their estate plan: The Durable Power of Attorney (DPOA) and a Health Surrogacy or Advanced Health Directive.
