If you’re considering estate planning beyond using just a simple will, and have been told that a revocable trust is the only kind of trust you should ever consider, then it’s time for a second opinion. While revocable trusts are fantastic tools that can help you to avoid probate, secure efficient distribution of assets when you die, and maintain control over those assets during life, they are far from perfect. More importantly, there are a host of benefits that they simply cannot provide. To get … [Read more...] about The Many Benefits of the Irrevocable Trust
Estate Planning
The Power of Attorney: Your Best Incapacity Protection
Most people go through life without ever considering the possibility that they might one day lose the ability to make even the simplest financial or medical decisions. Even many of those who do bother to make out a Last Will and Testament often neglect incapacity planning. The fact is that most of us either don’t believe that such things will ever happen to us or put off planning for it until it’s far too late. That can have disastrous consequences - not only for our own well-being, but for that … [Read more...] about The Power of Attorney: Your Best Incapacity Protection
How to Know if Estate Planning Trusts Are Right for You
If you hear the words “estate planning” and associate the term with dying, you’re certainly not alone. Most people think that an estate plan is all about their death and how their assets get distributed when they pass away. In reality, though, effective estate planning is about how you control your assets – both during life and after your life is over. Because the Last Will and Testament deals with post-death concerns, there has been growing interest in other estate planning tools such as the … [Read more...] about How to Know if Estate Planning Trusts Are Right for You
Estate Planning for Your Business: The LLC Corporate Structure
If you’re an adult in the United States, it’s a given that you’re at least somewhat familiar with corporations. And there’s a pretty good chance that you’ve seen at least one business name that had the LLC designation after it – indicating that the enterprise is organized as a Limited Liability Company. For the last two decades in Indiana, the LLC structure has been used by businesses in the state to protect owners’ personal assets from liability that their companies might incur. What you may … [Read more...] about Estate Planning for Your Business: The LLC Corporate Structure
How Strategic Business Planning Impacts Your Estate Plan
For many individuals, estate planning tends to focus on just a few central concerns. Many people are looking for a way to provide an easy transfer of assets when they die, a reduction in tax obligations, and protection to provide continuity of decision-making in case they ever find themselves incapacitated for any reason. To deal with these concerns, estate plans rely on a variety of different tools like wills, trusts, and powers of attorney. However, those plans can be disrupted if your … [Read more...] about How Strategic Business Planning Impacts Your Estate Plan
Three Unbeatable Advantages of Revocable Trusts
So, you’re finally ready to get serious about your estate planning, and one of your close friends suggests that you look into getting a living trust. The problem is that you haven’t really heard all that much about what a trust can accomplish for someone in your situation, so the idea seems a little odd. After all, aren’t trusts just for wealthy people? How could you possibly benefit from some complex legal arrangement? As it turns out, trusts have come a long way since those days when they were … [Read more...] about Three Unbeatable Advantages of Revocable Trusts
The Importance of Pet Planning; Don’t Forget Your Furry Heirs!
Anyone who thinks that Americans don’t focus an extraordinary amount of money, time, and energy on their pets simply hasn’t been paying attention. By most estimates, the people of the United States spend tens of billions of dollars each year on food, grooming, clothing, veterinary services, and a host of other amenities for the country’s roughly 400 million pets - including $58 billion in 2014 alone. To put that into context, that amount represented about five times what American spent at the … [Read more...] about The Importance of Pet Planning; Don’t Forget Your Furry Heirs!
Weighing the Cost of Probate in Indiana
In the state of Indiana, the probate process is a vital component in the estate settlement process. When a person dies, the estate that is left behind needs to be closed in a rational and orderly manner. Probate in Indiana provides that mechanism with a court-supervised process that ties up all of the loose ends that remain in the aftermath of the decedent’s passing. The deceased’s assets are identified and appraised, his or her creditors have an opportunity to make their claims against the … [Read more...] about Weighing the Cost of Probate in Indiana
Tasked with Trust Administration? Get the Help You Need!
Trusts have been gaining in popularity in recent years, as more people learn about the many benefits they can provide when used as part of a comprehensive estate planning strategy. For the grantor and beneficiaries of any trust, those benefits can include everything from tax savings and efficient financial planning to reduced asset transfer delays, increased privacy, and more. For the successor trustee charged with eventual administration of the trust, however, the role comes with an incredible … [Read more...] about Tasked with Trust Administration? Get the Help You Need!
Indiana Legislative Panel Focuses on LGBT Civil Rights
LGBT civil rights have been in the news quite a bit in recent years, and issues surrounding concerns over sexual orientation and gender identity don’t look as though they’ll be fading into the background any time soon. After last year’s uproar over Indiana’s Religious Freedom Restoration Act resulted in even more controversy, it was almost inevitable that the issue of civil rights would continue to play a prominent role in the state’s political landscape in 2016. True to form, the scheduled … [Read more...] about Indiana Legislative Panel Focuses on LGBT Civil Rights
