Estate Planning Attorney and Probate Lawyer Blog

#RichLifeLawyer 035: 5 Ways to Avoid Probate Without a Trust Talk to most estate planning attorneys and they are going to tell you you need a trust for one primary reason – to avoid probate. What they may not tell you (especially if they aren’t good or trustworthy) is that there are a lot of other ways to avoid probate – ways that don’t actually cost you any money. Now, there are a lot of other reasons you want to…

#RichLifeLawyer Show 034: What is a Trust and How Does It Work? I figured today was a good day to get it back to basics. We already talked about how the presidential race could effect estate taxes. And we talked about how traditional estate plans fail to do what they are really meant to do. Today I wanted to talk about some of the mechanics of estate planning. So let’s talk about what a trust is and how it’s actually…

#RichLifeLawyer Show 033: Presidential Politics and Estate Planning Watching Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump go toe to toe last night in their first debate got me thinking about the effect that president’s can have on estate planning and the approach one takes to creating an estate plan. As I started to think about it, I realized there are actually some pretty significant changes that can occur from one president to the next. And then I took a look at what…

#RichLifeLawyerShow 032: The 4 D’s of a Traditional (Bad) Estate Plan Contrary to what most estate planning attorneys state, much of what estate planning is today is the formulaic entry of information into a form that is then signed and stored away until something happens. It has been driven this way because many estate planning lawyers approach what they do with a desire to make sure all of their D’s are covered. Find out what that is in today’s episode…

#RichLifeLawyer Show 031: Who Needs Estate Planning Anyway?Many people think estate planning is just for the rich. You would be wrong. Estate planning is and can be for everyone. Rich. Poor. Single. Married. Gay. Straight. Black. White. It makes no difference. There are aspects of estate planning that are necessary for every single type of person out there. Yes, I said NECESSARY. Not helpful. Not nice to have. Necessary. In today’s show I talk about a little bit about what…

Today’s topic is one that gets to the heart of what estate planning is really all about. At the end of the day, do you care where your money goes if it results in your kids and their kids contributing nothing to society? Is it all worth it for you if your kids simply spend the money you give them on worthless vanity items? Or would you rather they use the tools you’ve given them to take advantage of that…

#RichLifeLawyer Show 030: Estate Planning and Your New Home I get asked questions about home ownership and estate planning all of the time. One of the common questions centers around the belief that if and when one purchases a new home that estate planning changes should be made. The answer, as always, is that it depends (and if any attorney tells you you should do something, they are imposing their own values on you). When it comes to the ownership…