The movie Secretariat is entertaining for horse racing fans and casual observers alike, but it is also instructive from an estate planning perspective. If you saw the movie you know that the family that owned and bred Secretariat was faced with the prospect of selling their farm just to pay the estate tax when family patriarch Christopher Chenery passed away. There are those who say that the estate tax is something that only rich people have to think about. In fact, there are many … [Read more...] about Tax Relief Act Positively Impacts Some Farm Families
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Consider a Charitable Lead Trust
There are various different ways to incorporate charitable giving into a comprehensive estate plan. While giving is its own reward on a particular level, without question many people are more or less compelled to give to charity because of the tax advantages. One of the devices that can be utilized to great advantage, especially during our current era when interest rates are low, is a charitable lead trust. We will endeavor to provide a very simple, surface explanation here but we … [Read more...] about Consider a Charitable Lead Trust
The Value of Post-Marital Agreements
Premarital agreements can be very useful from an estate planning perspective. This is particularly true for people who are entering into second or third marriages after having children from previous marriages. If you simply allow all assets that you bring into the marriage to become community resources you are doing nothing to protect the interests of your children. There are no guarantees with regard to what your spouse would choose to do with the assets if you were to die … [Read more...] about The Value of Post-Marital Agreements
April Indianapolis Estate Planning Seminars
Our firm is very proactive about community outreach and education. When you understand why estate planning is important you invariably feel compelled to take action for the benefit of those that you love. One way that we make solid information available is through our website and right here on this blog. A great resource that you may want to explore is our library of informative free estate planning reports. We offer a number of reports on many different specific topics, and they … [Read more...] about April Indianapolis Estate Planning Seminars
How Long Will You Continue Working?
People are working longer than they did a couple of decades ago according to research that has been compiled by the Sloan Center on Aging & Work at Boston College. While you may want to work even if you don't have to, it is certainly a good idea to make this choice on your own. You don't want to be forced to work when you are in your late 60's, 70's, and perhaps beyond out of financial need. And even those who would like to be working may not be capable of doing so at some point in … [Read more...] about How Long Will You Continue Working?
Youthful Wisdom Yields Long-Term Results
Some retirement planning experts have suggested that people should begin thinking about retirement when they are still in college. It is certainly true that you can never start saving too soon. The quality we know as "wisdom" is often thought of as being the exclusive domain of those who have a considerable amount of life experience. This may be true to some extent, but sometimes young people can make wise decisions as well. When you do the math you have a considerable amount of time to … [Read more...] about Youthful Wisdom Yields Long-Term Results
A Single Reason to Plan Ahead for Possible Incapacity
In truth, incapacity can strike anyone at any time. One of the most widely publicized examples of this was the case of Terri Schiavo. She was in her 20's when she fell into a vegetative state due to full cardiac arrest. The above having been stated, incapacity is obviously something that is more likely to strike people who reach an advanced age. Though there are many different causes of incapacitation, the mere existence of Alzheimer's disease alone is enough to make … [Read more...] about A Single Reason to Plan Ahead for Possible Incapacity
Estate Planning and the Kindness of Strangers
Peter Barton, who played Dr. Scott Grainger on the soap opera The Young and the Restless back in the late 80's and early 90's, and Kevin Brophy, who starred on the Lucan television series that aired for a couple of years during the 1970's, recently came into inheritances. The windfalls that these two veteran actors received were very much unexpected. A fellow named Ray Fulk died in Illinois over the summer. He was the owner of about 160 acres of property that has been appraised at … [Read more...] about Estate Planning and the Kindness of Strangers
Wife and Girlfriend of Kinkade Settle Case
We reported on this story some time ago but there has been a new development. A last will that is constructed completely by hand is called a holographic will. The painter Thomas Kinkade, who died last April, apparently executed two different holographic wills leaving significant resources to his girlfriend Amy Pinto. One can legally construct a holographic last will, but in the case of Thomas Kinkade there were some complications. These documents were very poorly written and … [Read more...] about Wife and Girlfriend of Kinkade Settle Case
Will Challenges: What Are the Legal Grounds?
Some people hear about the topic of last will challenges and they see a one-sided picture. This perspective involves a disgruntled party who cannot deal with the final wishes of a family member. Rather than accepting the decedent's right to make his or her own decisions the indignant individual in question decides to challenge the validity of the will. The fact of the matter is that there are those who may step forward out of a sense of being slighted personally without really having … [Read more...] about Will Challenges: What Are the Legal Grounds?
