ESTATE PLANNING

Complete your estate plan by adding powers of attorney

As you create your estate plan, your main objectives likely revolve around your family, both current and future generations. Your goals may include reducing estate tax liability so that you can pass as much…

Leave a lasting legacy with a family education trust

Providing for the educational needs of your children, grandchildren and even future generations is an honorable estate planning objective. What are your options for achieving this goal? A 529 plan can be a highly…

Avoid these 4 estate planning pitfalls

No one likes to contemplate his or her own mortality. But ignoring the need for an estate plan or procrastinating in the creation of one is asking for trouble. If you haven’t started the…

You shouldn’t amend a will yourself

Let’s assume you have a legally valid will but you’ve decided that it should be revised because of a change in your family’s circumstances. Perhaps all you want to do is add a newborn…

When little things mean a lot: Estate planning for personal property

Personal items — which may have modest monetary value but significant sentimental value — may be more difficult to address in an estate plan than big-ticket items. Squabbling over these items may lead to…

Estates now have an additional three years to file for a portability election

Portability allows a surviving spouse to apply a deceased spouse’s unused federal gift and estate tax exemption amount toward his or her own transfers during life or at death. To secure these benefits, however,…

Add estate planning flexibility with a power of appointment

The best laid plans can go awry. After your death, events may transpire that you hadn’t anticipated or couldn’t have reasonably foreseen. There’s no way of predicting the future, but you may want to…

A living will can help ensure your last medical wishes are carried out

According to a University of Pennsylvania report, approximately 37% of Americans have “advance directives,” which include living wills and power-of-attorney designations. These documents specify what should occur and who should make medical decisions should…

Addressing adopted children or stepchildren in your estate plan

Families that have children who are adopted, or stepchildren who haven’t been legally adopted, may face unique estate planning challenges. Additional consideration must be taken when a family includes an unmarried couple in a…

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