Today I want to talk to you about the foundational estate plan that everyone should have in an estate plan. Often people just wonder, “Okay, what kind of plan should I have? Do I need a plan? Why?” And today what I really wanted to do was just break down for you really quickly the foundational estate plan that everyone should have no matter what. Whether you’re married or single, whether you have kids or don’t, whether you have a…
One of the things we all think about when it comes to protecting our kids is what happens if we die? That’s great. And it’s important (it’s called guardianship – and you do that via your Will), BUT it’s not everything. What people often fail to think about and fail to plan for, to their detriment, is what happens in that circumstance where something happens to them but they don’t die. Perfect example. It’s date night night. You and your…
Note: these are my show notes – a general outline of the episode. If you want all of the information, you MUST listen to the episode. “Anyone may so arrange his affairs that his taxes shall be as low as possible; he is not bound to choose that pattern which will best pay the Treasury; there is not even a patriotic duty to increase one’s taxes.” – Learned Hand Before we get started, some ground rules. First, this is not…
Estate planning is a lot like potty training. I know this for two reasons. First, I know estate planning. I’m an estate planning attorney. That’s all we do here. Second, I know potty training. I just started potty training my third kid. The similarities are mind blowing… First, no one wants to do their estate plans. They don’t like to think about death or the family drama that will be caused when they die, or they just don’t have the…
Whenever I get up and speak about estate planning the first question I always ask the crowd is “who here has an estate plan?” Usually about a third of the hands go up. I let that sink in for a while (because we all know we need one) and then break the bad news to them… They are wrong. EVERYONE HAS AN ESTATE PLAN. Whether you have formally created a power of attorney, medical power of attorney, health care directive,…
By: Christopher Small | September 20, 2018 | Estate Planning
How to Choose the Right Long Term Guardian When it comes to estate planning and kids, a common hurdle that has to be overcome is choosing the right guardian. Often one spouse wants one person, the other spouse wants another, and the stalemate results in no decisions being made at all. Before we get to choosing the right long-term guardian for your kids, I want to point out that by making no choice at all everyone loses – a judge…
Revocable Living Trust Reason #3 – IRA Protection and Legacy Before we get going, the first thing I want to point out is that WHILE YOU ARE ALIVE keeping your IRA in your IRA account in your name is, in most cases, going to be the smart thing to do. Your IRA, the one that you created with YOUR money, is very safe while you are alive. If you think you might want to do something with your own IRA…
