Life is dynamic, and so are the circumstances surrounding marriage. Your estate plan should always reflect the current status of your life, accounting for changes in assets, relationships and even new additions to the family. Failure to update your estate plan...
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Estate Planning
How you can prevent inheritance theft with sound estate planning
You may have heard the terms “inheritance theft” or “inheritance hijacking.” This might bring to mind things like your sibling taking the antique desk you wanted your grandchild to have or your wedding ring going “missing” instead of to your daughter, as you intended....
2 good reasons to consider creating a pour-over will
A pour-over will works in combination with a living trust to add extra protection to your assets. It ensures that any property not included in the trust when you pass away is transferred to the trust automatically. You may believe your existing estate plan provisions...
Why a tentative trust may need to be part of your estate plan
You may have heard the term “Totten trust.” It’s referred to as a “tentative trust” under Pennsylvania law. It’s not a trust in the way most people think of them. It’s a payable-on-death (POD) account you can open at a financial institution. A tentative trust can be...
Are you too young to draft an estate plan?
Young people tend to feel like they have a lot of years in front of them, which is most likely the case. However, the truth is that you never know what’s around the corner. Estate planning offers individuals the chance to make arrangements should they become...
Estate planning mistakes that can lead to probate
You may already realize the importance of estate planning for ensuring that your assets are passed on to your beneficiaries. Unfortunately, you could make potential mistakes during this process that may lead to more of your estate going through probate. What are those...
You can prevent an heir from wasting their inheritance
One thing that people sometimes mention when creating an estate plan is that they are worried that their heirs may not have the same values that they do, or that they may have different spending habits. Essentially, the person is concerned that they have been saving...
Why you should consider a QDOT if you have a non-citizen spouse
There are a lot of misconceptions about whether people who aren’t U.S. citizens can inherit assets. If you’re a U.S. citizen and your spouse hasn’t yet obtained citizenship, you may be putting off your estate planning until that process is complete. However, that...
3 times it makes sense to add a trust to your estate plan
Trusts have an unfairly negative reputation. People often associate them with the incredibly wealthy and with privileged adult children who have never worked a job. However, trusts are actually incredibly useful for many people planning their estates. Both...
Let’s Talk About HIPAA
Let’s talk about HIPAA – The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996. This law is often misconstrued and misunderstood and has recently been pushed to the forefront of conversations again due to misunderstandings about what it does and does not...