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Awakened Planning: How to Talk About Estate Planning at Your Family Reunion

July is National Family Reunion Month and the perfect time to reconnect with family from near and far, sh...

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Latest Articles

There is no shortage of advice flying around about estate planning, much of it from people who aren't even lawyers. Get insight on the popular pitfalls and how emerging economic shifts like cryptocurrency can affect your plan.

Why Inheriting in Trust is a Must

You bring your children into the world with love. You raise them with love. If you’re going all the way a...

The Last Important Gift to Give Your Family

As hard as it is for all of us to “plan” for our deaths, doing so is one of the best things you can do fo...

If You Don’t Trust Your Kids with Money, You Need a Trust

While most parents have the best intentions when it comes to teaching their children about handling finan...

Legal Steps to Take When Facing a Dementia Diagnosis

Maria Shriver knows the devastation of Alzheimer’s disease firsthand. Her beloved father Sargent Shriver,...

Before You Take Off for Summer Vacation, Take On These 5 To-Dos

It’s no surprise that Americans spend more time planning their summer vacations than they do planning the...

A Plan for Protecting Your Most Valuable Asset: Your Children

If you have young children, chances are that your summer activities include some careful planning to keep...

Will the Inheritance You Leave Be a Blessing or an Albatross?

Rock musician Sting recently announced that his children will not inherit his estimated $300 million fort...

The Legal Planning You Need to Do for Your High School Graduate

If you’re the parent of a high school graduate this year, congratulations! You’ve put in a lot of time an...

How Real Men Celebrate Father’s Day

Do you know what it takes to be a real man? Although the expectations of both men and women have evolved ...

Greatest Wealth Transfer in History Underway – What’s Your Plan?

A new study from the Boston College Center on Wealth and Philanthropy shows that the greatest wealth tran...

How to Balance Family Memories with Future Plans for a Vacation Home

Summer has officially arrived and for those of us fortunate enough to have a vacation home – whether it’s...

Your Memorial Should Be More Than Just Money

One of the most striking aspects of the recent opening of the National September 11 Memorial & Museum...

Unconditional Love Doesn’t Have to Mean Unconditional Inheritance

Most parents love their children unconditionally and want to do whatever they can to smooth life’s rough ...

The Wealth Creation Trust: A Gift That Keeps On Giving

The perfect gift for your child or grandchild on the occasion of their birth, Bar or Bat Mitzvah, Sweet 1...

Vacations Are the Perfect Time for Families to Talk About Estate Planning

If you are like most Americans, you will probably be spending at least some of your vacation time this su...

Give While You Live to Avoid a Family Feud

A recent article in the New York Post about brothers battling over a painting from their uncle’s estate s...

How Advance Medical Directives Became a Way of Life in One American Town

With just over 50,000 residents, La Crosse is a lot like other small American towns – but there is one th...

Does anyone still spank children?

Pediatrician Dr. Bill Sears is the author of more than 30 books on childcare, has appeared on dozens of n...

Subject: Receiving an Inheritance One Day? Here’s What to Do Now.

Baby boomers are set to inherit up to $8.4 trillion over the next 15 years, according to The Center for R...

How to Protect Life Insurance Proceeds from Taxation

If you have been responsible enough to purchase a life insurance policy as added protection for your love...

A Prolonged Death Provides Lessons for the Living

Everyone agreed on one thing: Marlise Munoz was dead. The 33-year-old Texas wife, mother and paramedic go...

How to Preserve a Family Vacation Home with a Trust

If you are fortunate enough to have a family vacation home, you know the emotional value it holds for eve...

How to Pass Along Family Heirlooms Peacefully

A recent Wall Street Journal article noted that boomers and seniors are more interested in passing along ...

6 Tax Questions to Ask Before Year-End

Everyone’s “to-do” lists seem to grow longer at this time of year, but yours is incomplete until you ask ...

7 Reasons to Consider a Trust for Your Family

Do you consider trusts to be instruments of the wealthy? While it is true that many Americans of means ha...

10 Tips for Charitable Giving This Holiday Season

According to a recent Forbes article, Americans donated more than $316 billion to charity last year – and...

How to Create a Plan to Ensure Your Pet’s Care

Most of us who have a pet consider them to be a part of the family; unfortunately, the plans we may have ...

Why Estate Planning is for Life, Not Death

We know that no one likes to think about death, especially their own. Which is why many people procrastin...

How to Care for Children with Special Needs Through Estate Planning

For many people, the basics of estate planning are simple enough, but for those families with loved ones ...

Consider Your Estate Plan Before You Travel

We are fast approaching the holidays, when travel is the busiest and careful planning is necessary to nab...

How Much Do You Charge for a Will?

If you came to this page to find out what I’ll charge you for a Will or you are considering calling me (o...

Family Wealth Planning: The Single Most Important Thing You Can Do Now to Feel Better About Yourself As a Parent – and Leave the World a Better Place – No Matter How Much Money You Have in the Bank

If you are like most of the parents I know, you feel guilty. It’s what parents do. Whether your guilt is ...

How to Get Your Boomerang Kid Off Your Couch & Ensure He Becomes an Adult You Are Proud to Say You Raised

A recent Economist article says a “perfect storm” of the poor economy of the past few years, resulting in...

Windsor Ruling Expands Estate Planning Prospects for Married Same-Sex Couples

In June, the U.S. Supreme Court ruling in United States v. Windsor invalidated the federal Defense of Mar...

The 10 Keys to Planning and Living Your Best Retirement

Three-day weekends like the Labor Day just passed give us all the tiniest snippet of a glimpse into what ...

How to Reduce the Risk of Identity Theft When a Loved One Dies

A new trend in identity theft – afterlife identity theft – is on the rise, with thieves scouring obituari...

7 Steps for Effectively Managing an Inheritance

Research shows that a majority of baby boomers will receive an inheritance at some time during the lives,...

Planning for What Happens Last

Seth Godin is a well known and oft-quoted American entrepreneur who has authored 13 best sellers that hav...

Making a Plan for Your Digital Assets

According to a 2011 McAfee study, Americans value the digital assets they own across multiple digital dev...

How to Ensure Your Life Insurance Benefits Go to Your Heirs

Recently, 11 major life insurance companies agreed to pay $763 million to the heirs of deceased policyhol...

Make a Contract With Your Teen Driver This Summer

It’s summer and that means more teen drivers on the road. Statistics show teens have twice as many accide...

The Talk You Need to Have With Your Parents

When you were a kid, your parents dreaded the talk they had to have with you. You know the one. Well, now...

10 Common Errors When Naming Life Insurance Beneficiaries That Will Hurt the People You Love – and How to Fix Them

If you make a mistake in naming beneficiaries for your life insurance policy, the people you love will en...

How to Avoid Family Conflict When Making an Estate Plan

Unfortunately, money has a habit of bringing out the worst in people, even in the best of families. One o...

6 Cases When a Trust is Better Than a Will

A will is one of the most basic estate planning documents, and everyone should have one to make sure that...

Best Mother’s Day Gift Ever? The Kids Protection Planning Kit®

By now, the flood of floral commercials has already reminded us that Mother’s Day is Sunday, May 12. But ...

5 Key Decisions to Make With Your Spouse Before You Retire

Retirement decision-making for boomers is very different than it was for our parents, when it was usually...

The Digital Afterlife Debate: What Happens to Your Online Assets After You’re Gone

The digital afterlife debate over who owns the online assets of someone who has died has been in the news...

The Conversation You Must Have With Your Kids and Your Parents

Every single adult needs to have an advance health care directive written, signed and in place. This incl...

Striking a Balance Between Funding Your Retirement and Your Child’s Education

Many parents perceive a conflict between funding a child’s college education and building their own retir...

Congratulations! It’s an Estate Plan! Protecting Your Newborn From Birth

In the process of becoming new parents, many couples become experts at planning – scheduling the birthing...

5 Ways to Ease the Pain of the Payroll Tax Hike

While the fiscal cliff tax deal cut by Congress last month targeted primarily higher wage earners, every ...

How to Secure Your Personal Information Online

Most of us conduct a lot of our personal business online these days, so the necessity of being savvy when...

Tips to Help You Reboot Your Retirement Plan

Planning for a long and prosperous retirement is no longer just about the money; because of the recession...

Will-Based vs. Trust-Based Plans: Key Differences Explained | PFL®

In this article I will explain the difference between a Will-based plan and a Trust-based plan so you can...

The Fiscal Cliff Tax Deal: For Most of Us, It's a Wash

The American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012 that Congress passed on New Year's Day extended the Bush era tax...

5 Things We Should Learn From Our Parents About Retirement

When we talk about retirement, most of us are still thinking about our parents’ retirement and how they d...

How to Talk to a Loved One About Estate Planning

Estate planning rarely comes up in the course of regular conversation and if it does, it is usually invol...

Holidays a Perfect Opportunity to Check Up on Aging Parents

The holidays are a traditional time for multiple generations to gather together, and are also a perfect o...

Longevity Insurance Can Help Those Worried About Outliving Their Money

With longer life spans comes the necessity to be sure your money is around at least as long as you are. L...

Savvy Year-End Tax Moves for Retirement Plan Owners

Even though the elections are over, no one knows what Congress will do by the end of the year when it com...

Retirement Planning Guidelines for Every Age

You’re never too young or too old to save for retirement; here are some guidelines by age group: Under 25...

How to Protect Elderly Parents From Financial Abuse

According to a recent study by the Investor Protection Trust and Investor Protection Institute, the top t...

When It Comes to Inheritance, Treating Children Equally Not Always the Best Plan

While most parents have the inclination to treat all their children equally when it comes to an inheritan...

Planning for Estate Taxes in 2013 and Beyond

What will happen to estate taxes in 2013? Right now, you may as well try to predict what the weather will...

How to Create a Pet Trust

There is no doubt we are a nation of pet lovers. Unfortunately, the law as it is currently written views ...

What a Will Won’t Do

There are a number of essential things a last will and testament can do for you, such as distribute famil...

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