Archive for the ‘estate planning’ Category
Monday, August 4th, 2008
Randy Pausch died on July 25, 2008. You know Randy because, after being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and being given a diagnosis of 3-6 months to live, he gave his "Last Lecture" to a packed classroom at Carnegie Mellon where he was a professor.
His Last Lecture went on to be ...
Posted in estate planning | No Comments »
Sunday, June 15th, 2008
I have major mixed feelings about LegalZoom.
I'm not going to lie, I am mighty impressed by the business acumen of the lawyers who started LegalZoom. Generally speaking, lawyers are the worst business people, but not these guys. They are smart.
And, I'm pretty impressed that the've got the ...
Posted in estate planning | 7 Comments »
Wednesday, May 14th, 2008
Family Wealth Planning is the Web 2.0 version of estate planning.
Whereas "estate planning" is about preparing and passing on your financial assets at the end of your life, Family Wealth Planning is about making the right financial and legal decisions for your whole family wealth throughout your lifetime and leaving ...
Posted in Family Wealth, estate planning | 3 Comments »
Tuesday, April 22nd, 2008
Quite frequently when I'm working with clients, I am asked the question - how much life insurance do I need?
Like any good lawyer, my answer is "it depends." There's no set answer.
Personally, I have $1,500,000 on my life. And, by the way, it's not payable to my kids or my ...
Posted in estate planning | 5 Comments »
Thursday, April 10th, 2008
I get massively ticked off when I meet with prospects for a Family Wealth Planning Session and see on their Family Wealth Inventory and Assessment they've been sold life insurance they don't need.
Life insurance is critically important for families, no doubt.
But, it's important you get the right type of life ...
Posted in estate planning | 10 Comments »
Friday, April 4th, 2008
A few days ago, I got an email from my cousin asking me whether I wanted to hear about how one of my family members stole $300,000 from me and my sister.
Let me start at the beginning ...
About a month ago, my grandmother (Nana) died in Florida. Nana was my ...
Posted in estate planning | 1 Comment »
Wednesday, March 26th, 2008
Last week, I was contacted by Alice Gomstyn, a reporter from ABC News who was writing a story about Heath Ledger, who as you'll recall from my article last week, died with an out of date Will that didn't mention his daughter Matilda.
Alice's article confirms what I've been saying all ...
Posted in estate planning | 5 Comments »
Thursday, March 20th, 2008
Another sad case of a woman on life support who didn't do any estate planning. Deanna Suzanne Fruggiero is only 31 and not married, so she probably didn't think it was important. Now, her divorced parents are fighting over who will make decisions about her care. Every adult ...
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Tuesday, March 18th, 2008
Monday's Wall St. Journal article Market Turmoil Creates Opening to Enrich Heirs
highlighted one way the current downturn in the market can be a huge opportunity for the wealthy. This is a fantastic time for you to pass assets on to your heirs at a major discount.
For those of ...
Posted in estate planning | 1 Comment »
Tuesday, March 11th, 2008
Once again, another celebrity has died with an out-of-date Will. Heath Ledger's Will has been made public (as all Wills are public documents after death) and it turns out that the Will, made three years prior to his daughter's birth, leaves everything to his parents and sister.
We saw the ...
Posted in Celebrity Planning, Family Wealth, estate planning | 5 Comments »