Sudden Widowhood: Navigating Legal and Financial Chaos after a Spouse’s Death
You and your spouse planned a life together, and nothing can fully prepare you for their loss. Like most people, you may have let the thought cross your mind only to quickly push it away because it felt too painful to consider. But some level of planning is one of the most...
The Risks of an Unfinished Estate Plan – and Why You Should Complete Yours
Planning for the future, especially your own mortality, is never easy. Even when you understand the importance of creating a will or trust to protect your loved ones, finding the motivation to complete an estate plan can be difficult. Yet an unfinished estate plan is almost as risky as having no plan...
Seven Estate Planning Traps Most People Miss – and Seven Questions to Audit Your Family’s Future
Think back to how your life was seven years ago. Your family, your finances, your relationships, and even the accounts you use have probably changed in ways both obvious and subtle. Seven years does not feel like a long time until you start making the list.
Your estate plan...
Estate Planning for Schoolteachers: How Your Benefits Come into Play
As a schoolteacher, you do far more than teach lessons. You manage a classroom, mentor students, and juggle a busy schedule—often while balancing other responsibilities at home. But one important task is often too easy to postpone: estate planning.
Estate planning is not just for the wealthy. It is...
Types of Life Insurance and How They Can Be Used in Estate Planning
Many people first encounter life insurance when they start a full-time job and are offered coverage through their employer’s group plan. It is an easy decision to make—and one that often receives little attention afterward. But as your financial and family circumstances evolve, your coverage is worth revisiting.
What...
What You Should Know about Life Insurance in Estate Planning
An estate plan may look perfect on paper—until your heirs need cash quickly. Life insurance can be a powerful tool for addressing that gap, providing funds precisely when they are needed most. When coordinated with the rest of your estate plan, it can also help ensure that your wishes are carried out...
Estate Planning When Your Children Live in Different States
Today, many families are scattered across the country, with parents living in one state and children in another.
Physical distance can introduce logistical hurdles that estate plans are not always built to handle. Even in a geographically clustered family, having a child living across state lines can create significant...
Estate Planning After Remarriage
You may not be able to choose the family you are born into, but you can choose the family you build through marriage, partnership, and the life you create on your own terms. The traditional nuclear family is no longer the default, and biological family ties are no longer always assumed.
Business Owners: Ensure Your Estate Plan and Asset Protection Plan Work in Tandem
When it comes to assets, your business is likely to be your most valuable. That’s why it’s important for your estate plan and your asset protection plan to complement each other. Each serves a distinct purpose, but when coordinated properly, they can help ensure that your wealth is preserved, liabilities are minimized...
The QTIP Trust: A Powerful Planning Tool for Blended Families
Remarriages are increasingly common. According to recent data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, by age 55, nearly 27% of those who’ve married have done so two or more times. As a result, “blended” families — in which one or both spouses have children from a previous marriage — are also...