Many people want to know does it make sense to put my house in a trust. Often, this question comes up with a vacation home, or a home that has been in the family for some years and the family wishes to keep the home in the family. A trust can give you better control than a will or a deed over how your assets are transferred from one generation to the other. And, a trust may offer other advantages such as asset Read More
How to Choose a Trustee For Your Family Trust
If you're in the process of setting up a trust or if you're reviewing a trust set up some years ago an important part of the process and worthy of careful consideration is who to choose to act as trustee of your trust. Typically you will be the first trustee but your chosen successor trustee will take over management of the trust when you are gone. This person will be making all the decisions once you're gone and Read More
How to Choose a Financial Adviser
Financial advisers help people manage their money and reach their financial goals. They can provide a range of financial planning services, from investment management to budgeting guidance to retirement planning. Picking the right financial adviser for your situation is key — doing so means you won't end up paying for services you don't need or working with an adviser who isn't a good fit for your financial goals. Read More
10 Questions to Ask Before You Hire a Financial Adviser
Most people don't know how to hire a financial adviser. Often we will get a referral from a friend or a professional such as a lawyer or account. Often these are good methods of finding a good investment adviser. But, if you are creating a family trust and want to hire a financial adviser to manage the money in the trust, you probably want a traditional personal financial adviser or financial consultant. You Read More
What is the difference between a living will and an advanced healthcare directive?
What is the difference between a living will and an advance healthcare directive? Well, these terms can be confusing but the short answer is that a living will is a type of advance directive, while “advance directive” is a broad term used to describe any legal document, or set of documents, that addresses your future medical care. Living wills are advance directives, but not all advance directives are living Read More
When To Update Our Wills: Newly married with a new baby.
Mom and Baby Q: I was recently married and we just had a baby. My husband has a Will that he had prepared before we were married leaving everything to his sister. Is that will still effective or should he make a new one? If he doesn't update it, will everything actually go to his sister? A: It is very important to update Wills and account beneficiaries upon the occurrence of a significant life event such as a Read More
Do I Need an Estate Plan in my 20s or 30s?
Accidents happen. Illnesses can strike anyone unexpectedly. So, take a moment to get a few basic estate planning tasks out of the way. You — and the people you love — will be glad you did. If you think you’re too young — think again. Incapacity can occur at any age. Most people prefer to have control over what happens to their belongings when the unthinkable happens. But when there’s no plan in place, the state Read More
Why Do I Need a Trust?
A simple will works for some people, but it's not for everyone. For those is in a second marriage, have minor children, or are concerned about fraud, a trust may serve you much better. There are some simple estate planning techniques that you can use to avoid probate and simplify things for your heirs when you die, for example: adding beneficiaries to your retirement accounts or adding transfer on death (TOD) Read More
Is it a Good Idea to Convert my IRA to a Roth IRA and Leave it to My Children?
Roth IRAs are getting a lot of attention these days. I get a lot of questions about how to use a Roth IRA in an estate plan if you want to take advantage of tax-free growth your account will enjoy when you leave it to your children or grand children. Some retirees convert their IRAs to Roths even if they’re not convinced the move will pay off for them. Why? It will almost certainly pay off for their heirs. A Roth Read More
What You Can’t Do With a Will
Most people know what a will does but there are things that it won’t cover. A will is just one part of a comprehensive estate plan. Here is what you can't do with a will. A will is a legally-binding statement directing who will receive your property at your death. It is also the way you appoint a legal representative to carry out your bequests and that you name a guardian for your children. Without a will, your Read More
