Category Archives: Estate Planning
Are Non-Probate Assets Overrated?
Probate is an unpleasant reminder that there is no such thing as a free lunch. You know how, in order to get your income tax refund, you must complete the process of filing your income tax returns, and even when you do that, the refund you receive is a lot less than you were… Read More »
Bad News Beneficiaries for Non-Probate Assets
If your estate plan includes some non-probate assets, you are off to a good start, but complacency is the enemy of every estate plan, so don’t assume that you have all your ducks in a row just because you bought a life insurance policy years ago when your employer offered it to you as… Read More »
Estate Planning Goals for 2025
Even the scammiest for-profit colleges will teach you that the best goals you can set are attainable ones. Shooting for the moon is an exercise in frustration unless it is a front for a more modest goal, such as “outdo my previous record.” That is why, this year, you should not resolve to adopt… Read More »
The Solitary Personal Representative’s Probate Dilemma
If your main motivation for getting started on your estate plan is to reduce stress on your family members, then you feel a great sense of relief once you write your will, print it on paper, and sign it in the presence of two witnesses. By designating someone as personal representative of your estate,… Read More »
Asset Protection and Your Retirement Account
Asset protection is a factor in most people’s estate planning strategy. Some people establish trusts and transfer assets to their heirs while they are still alive in order to protect their heirs’ inheritance from being vulnerable to creditor claims during probate. A simpler asset protection tool is probably already doing its job silently in… Read More »
Are Revocable Trusts Overrated?
Financial planners advertise revocable trusts as though they are an aspirational product, and they are beneficial to people who establish them for the right reasons. If you are setting up a revocable trust because someone told you that all the financially savvy people are doing it, or because a financial planner offered it to… Read More »
If You Placed a Child for Adoption, Can He or She Inherit From You?
Estate planning lawyers often say that you should never write a will when you are angry, but writing a will when you are angry is better than not writing one at all. Even if you wrote your will just to make sure that your cheating spouse or your ungrateful youngest daughter didn’t get a… Read More »
Encouragement for the Retirement Averse
Some people fear old age but look forward to retirement, but you are the opposite. You have never understood the FIRE movement, which stands for “financial independence, retire early.” The Great Resignation makes no sense to you. Why would people quit their jobs when they do not have another job lined up or enough… Read More »
Finally, Some Affordable Housing for Grandfamilies in D.C.
Online advice about preparing for retirement could stand to be more inclusive; it tends to focus on a small subset of retirees and to ignore major changes to the financial circumstances of many Americans. For example, if you go online to get ideas about what to expect in retirement, most of the articles and… Read More »
Retirement Is Not an Endless Summer Vacation
It has been a long time since you have had to think about the back-to-school routine, but you see it happening around you. For you, summer ends when it is cool enough that you can tolerate a Metro ride with your suit jacket on, but for everyone else, there is a bigger seismic shift… Read More »
