Category Archives: Estate Planning
Talk with Your Family About Your Estate Plan to Avoid Potential Conflicts
When a loved one passes away, it’s somewhat common for conflicts to arise among beneficiaries regarding the deceased’s estate plan. In many of these cases, the conflict could have been avoided if the deceased had talked through the estate plan with his or her family in advance. The most common issue is that children or […]
Be Sure to Leave Behind Access Information for Your Online Accounts
In today’s digitally driven society, we must consider more than just our physical assets when crafting our estate plans. It’s not enough to plan out what you want to have happen to our online accounts after we pass — we also must provide our estate administrators with access information to all our accounts to ensure […]
How to Revoke a Last Will and Testament
You may choose to revoke a last will and testament at any time and for any reason you wish. After all, your will and its contents are entirely under your control. In general, you should review your will every year or two, and also check it any time you have a major change in your […]
Tips for Protecting Your Estate Planning Documents from Potential Disasters
As part of your plans to prepare for potential disasters that tend to hit Florida, such as hurricanes, tropical storms, floods and tornadoes, you should make sure all your important documents are kept in a secure location. This will ensure that all your documents will remain secure and undamaged, and that your estate administrator and […]
The Pros and Cons of Creating a Will on Your Own
There’s no shortage of tools online that can help you create your own last will and testament, typically through downloadable forms and templates. However, before you decide to create a will yourself, you should be aware of the pros and cons of doing so. The benefits of a do-it-yourself will The single-biggest advantage to creating […]
Some Argue the Estate Tax Should Be Raised, Not Cut
The estate tax has been the subject of much debate for years, but that debate has especially heated up since President Donald J. Trump took office in January. The estate tax has been the subject of much debate for years, but that debate has especially heated up since President Donald J. Trump took office in […]
What to Know About Getting Witnesses to Your Will Signing
When you finalize and sign your last will and testament, you must have witnesses on hand to verify that you were of sound mind when you did so. These individuals will witness your actions at the time you sign the will and, if needed, can later testify about your state of mind at the time. […]
Factors to Consider When Determining Testamentary Capacity
For a will to be legally valid, the person who creates it must “be of sound mind and body.” This is known as having “testamentary capacity.” There are five components to testamentary capacity: Age: For a will to be valid, the person creating it must be an adult and fully understand the importance of creating […]
Adding an Explanatory Letter to Your Estate Plan
Through a last will and testament, you can clearly outline how you would like to distribute your assets and property to your family members and friends. However, you may find that as you develop your will, the need arises to clarify why you made certain decisions regarding who received what or why there were disparities […]
Tips for Disaster Proofing Your Estate Plan
Whenever you work on your estate plan, you likely spend at least some of your time thinking about worst-case scenarios. In addition to accounting for these situations in your estate planning documents, you should also make sure those documents will remain safe if disaster strikes. Where you decide to store your estate planning documents depends […]