It seems like it was not that long ago that we were wondering if spring would ever arrive. All too quickly, and with back-to-school sales in full swing, it is clear that summer is on the wane (high temps and humidity notwithstanding). If you have col…
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While developing your estate plan, a best first step is to identify your online accounts. And that’s a perfect time to consider the security and storage of your passwords as well. Most people don’t have hard copies of account statements anymore b…
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You Have a Will, But It’s Old It likely won’t surprise you to hear that many people already have an estate plan. You might even be one of those people. But how long ago did you make that plan? 5 years? 20 years? Yes, it’s true that an estate pl…
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Bleak House is a novel written by Charles Dickens in 1852. Set in England, it’s the account of a family dispute that resulted when a deceased ancestor left multiple conflicting wills. The case (Jarndyce vs. Jarndyce) spanned generations of the fami…
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You’re Going to the Chapel Did you know that the perfect time to get your first estate plan is the moment those wedding bells finish ringing? Marriage is a major life-changing event. Do you understand how it affects your assets and debts? What…
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Occasionally, clients will bring us legal documents that they created using an online service. It happened again a couple of weeks ago when long-time clients of mine came in for a trust review. I learned when we met that they had used a popular onlin…
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You’re Having Surgery You have the date. You know the procedure’s risks and rewards. You’re familiar with the pre-op instructions, and you’ve made arrangements to get to and from the procedure. But, do you have your estate plan in place?…
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I always impress upon estate planning clients the importance of updating their homeowners’ insurance after conveying real estate to a trust, even if the transfer is via a “ladybird deed” that doesn’t take effect until the client is deceased.…
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There’s a National Holiday for It Raise your hand if you have your party hat on for National Estate Planning Awareness Week, which kicked off yesterday! Just me? Not surprising. Yes, National Estate Planning Awareness Week is an actual thing. Adopt…
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While we rarely see joint wills, they do come up often enough in conversations with clients to warrant a brief mention here. The context is usually the mistaken belief that a joint will might simplify the overall estate plan or, perhaps, result in a…
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