Category Archives: Estate Planning
Choosing A Brain Trust For Your Estate Plan
Even now, nearly a century after it formed, President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s “Brain Trust” still gets the occasional shout out in journalistic think pieces. President Roosevelt’s Brain Trust was a group of legal and economic scholars from whom Roosevelt sought advice on policy, and some of whom held positions in his cabinet; one of… Read More »
These Elder Care Apps May Leave Extra Room In Your Estate Planning Budget
No matter the size of your estate, the biggest concern on your mind as you begin your estate plan is not being a burden to your family. You may have read the New York Times article several months ago about high end assisted living facilities that make aging Baby Boomers feel like they are… Read More »
Researchers Develop Assessment Tool To Protect Seniors From Abusive Guardianships
Some estate planning lawyers start discussions by talking about all the fun you can have with your money in retirement, while others play on your wishes to help your family be financially stable after you die. Not all of the important estate planning decisions are about money, though. You will also have to decide… Read More »
Long-Term Care Insurance Can Be Your Best Protection Against Financial Catastrophe In Retirement
Wishing that you will never need to use a certain type of insurance is a terrible reason not to buy it. It is true that you do not need to buy homeowners’ insurance if you rent your house, and you probably do not need flood insurance if you live on an upper floor of… Read More »
Save Money Now, And Plan For Retirement Later
Social Security is set to run out in 2035. The gig economy accounts for a greater and greater share of jobs. Will hepatitis or monkeypox be the next pandemic, or will it be something even scarier? Will we even be alive when millennials reach the current age of today’s Baby Boomers? How do you… Read More »
Unmarried Couples Can Never Be Too Specific About Bequeathing Assets To Each Other
In many regards, marriage is just a piece of paper. Married couples and unmarried couples are more alike than different. You live together and share life experiences, manage finances together and build relationships with each other’s family of origin, and perhaps even have children of your own together. Most of the time, society treats… Read More »
Maryland Laws About Cremation And Burial
You might have opinions about how you want people to remember you after you die, but the way to achieve most of these wishes is through your conduct when you are alive, not through the perfect funeral. Perhaps you have songs or hymns that you would like the people in attendance to hear at… Read More »
Is It Time To Revise Your Estate Plan?
Reevaluating Your Choice of Personal Representative While it is important to review your estate plan periodically, the good news is that you do not need to rewrite your entire estate plan from scratch every year. (Divorce is almost the only event that requires you to start over again from zero with your estate plan.) … Read More »
Aging In Place Probably Means Remodeling Your Home Sooner Or Later
One of the worst things about ringing in the new year is the realization that you are another year older, and another year has passed without you and your spouse talking openly with each other or with other family members about the fact that you are getting old. Getting visits from your children and… Read More »
The Grinch’s Guide To The Annual Gift Tax Exclusion
In 2020, financial stress, travel restrictions, and caution about exposure to rapidly surging COVID-19 variants put a damper on many families’ holiday cheer. This year, some of those families are determined to have a fabulous celebration, but some realized, during quiet times at home and joyous exchanges of holiday greetings over Zoom, that going… Read More »
