Figuring out what to do with your estate plan can often be difficult. There are many different options to sort through. When people finally have everything in their plans how they want, they sometimes forget about their estate plans and never change them. That can be a big mistake. Continue reading

A new study pegs the lifetime cost of caring for a child with autism at $1.4 million. For parents, there are no easy solutions. The good news: Sam is now high-functioning, and in many respects a completely normal 13-year-old. The downside: The price tag to get to this point has been massive. “Only a parent of a child with special needs can ever understand the struggles, and the financial commitment, of raising and recovering an autistic child,” says Mercier, a business owner from Winnipeg, Canada. “It’s an endless battle — and an expensive one.” Continue reading

The Uniform Law Commission has come up with a new proposal to allow the heirs of recently deceased people access to digital accounts of the deceased. However, many technology companies are not in favor of the idea. Continue reading

If you have an IRA, a new decision by the United States Supreme Court could have significant implications for your estate plan. You need to know what the possibilities are. Continue reading

It is commonly understood that when you get divorced, you need to change your estate plan. However, the timing of when that process should begin is not common knowledge. Continue reading

Walt Disney's work is often seen as containing entertaining lessons for children. However, the ongoing litigation over part of his estate contains a valuable lesson for adults. Continue reading

You may have made a giant estate planning mistake without even knowing it — forgetting to update the names of your beneficiaries for your employer-sponsored retirement plans, IRAs, life insurance policies, mutual funds, bank accounts, brokerage accounts, annuities and 529 college savings plans. Continue reading

Now is the time to adopt financial habits that determine a successful retirement, even if you’re still in your 20s. Continue reading

If there is a boogeyman when it comes to family conversations about inheritance, it is not death. It’s the $40 trillion that financial advisers say their baby boomer clients are going to pass to their children either in an orderly way — or in a chaotic mess. A report by UBS on why families should talk about inheritance confirms the reluctance of people to talk about death and money. Continue reading

Whether you’re married or widowed, divorced or single, it’s important to have the right documents in place to ensure that you have the help and care you need as you age — and that your estate is handled in the way you want. If you don’t have children, who often become caregivers and beneficiaries, making arrangements for your care and estate often requires more thought and planning. Continue reading

About $40 trillion. That's the amount of money boomer parents are expected to leave to their millennial offspring over the next 30 to 40 years. If you're among those leaving a tidy sum to your loved ones, you will want to do it right. Continue reading

Determining what to do with your physical property after you pass away can sometimes be difficult. However, it is nowhere near as difficult as deciding what to do with your digital property and accounts. If you do not plan ahead, your social media and email accounts could outlive you. Continue reading

If an estate plan is done well, we can tell what a deceased person intended to do and why merely by knowing what happened to his assets. Philip Seymour Hoffman is a recent celebrity example of this. Continue reading

College is extremely expensive for most families. When tuition, room, board, books and other miscellaneous expenses are all added in the total cost of a college degree is often in the six figures. Not wanting to saddle their younger family members with student loan debt, many families are struggling to find affordable ways to meets these expenses themselves. Continue reading

After someone passes away different types of debts are handled differently. As Americans continue to accumulate credit card debt, it is important to know how it will be handled by your estate. Continue reading

Income inequality and the estate tax continue to be hot button issues in American politics and culture. Americans have a wide array of opinions about these two linked topics. Comedian John Oliver recently gave his humorous thoughts on them. Continue reading

Revocable living trusts solve many common estate planning problems. As such they continue to be extremely popular. However, not everyone needs to get a revocable living trust as part of their estate plan. Continue reading

Estate planning is often seen as something that middle-aged and older people do as they begin to plan how their assets will be distributed after they pass away. Younger people who are just starting their careers do not think that they need estate plans because they do not have very many assets. Nothing could be further from the truth. Continue reading

Many people who have been considering changing their estate plan put it off for as long as possible. When those people are in an accident or get ill, they often attempt to dictate a new will on their deathbed. How effective are these wills? Continue reading

News about Lou Reed's estate continues to come out of the New Jersey court system. We are not hearing the specifics of his estate plan only because Reed was a celebrity. Instead, we know what we know because of how Reed did his estate plan. Continue reading

What happens to digital accounts and assets after a person passes away has become a popular subject. One thing that does not get mentioned very often is that it could be a criminal act for people to access your accounts after you are gone. Continue reading

Family Limited Partnerships have become a popular vehicle to preserve family businesses as part of an estate plan. They provide a way to maintain control of the business and pass it on to family members. However, there are some drawbacks that you should be aware of before creating an FLP. Continue reading

As much as many Americans complain about estate taxes, it appears that South Koreans might have even bigger cause for complaint. The Chairman of Samsung's family might lose half of his assets to the government. Continue reading

A spousal IRA heir gets a lot of flexibility in deciding what to do with the account. Continue reading

Estate-planning blunders are costly and common, even among the fiscally prudent. Any number of oversights can leave you vulnerable in the event you become incapacitated. Others can seriously compromise the amount your heirs will inherit when you die. Continue reading