Think Twice About Adding Your Children to Your Bank Account or Other Assets I see it often in our practice. When people hear about the cost, delays and potential perils of the probate process, they often just add their children as co-owners on their bank accounts or their residence in order to avoid probate. However,…
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The Veterans Asset Protection Trust The Veterans Asset Protection Trust can be an applicable and beneficial option for many of our elderly clients who are looking for long-term planning options. The Veterans Asset Protection Trust is an intentionally defective grantor trust and can be considered as an option for clients who are wartime Veterans or…
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A New Tax Identification Number is Required for Revocable Living Trust After the Trustmaker’s Death Many of our clients choose to create revocable living trusts as their primary estate planning vehicle to state their wishes for the management of their assets during life and what will happen to the assets after their death. Creating a…
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What Is a Living Will? A living will is a document that allows you to say what should happen if death is imminent and there’s nothing more medically that can reasonably be done. If you are in a hospital and your doctor determines that you are terminally ill with only a short period of time…
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Defining Your Goals Here is a great discussion about defining your goals when putting together your estate plan, as set forth in Keith’s book, “Introduction to Estate Planning – How to Protect and Pass on Your Legacy,” Bardolf & Company, 2017. Your Job is to Share your Concerns Good planning starts with identifying goals. Your…
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What a Will Does Not Do A simple Will is a bares bones simple estate planning tool that contains not much more than your wishes concerning transfers of property at your death. A simple Will cannot and is not meant to do everything for you. The following are some estate planning goals or priorities that go…
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Estate Planning Tips for Families with Disabled Beneficiaries I recently came across an article on WealthManagement.com that does a good job of setting forth planning tips for families who have a loved one with a disability, Click Here. The article is authored by Robert M. Freeman and Alexis R. Gruttadauria and was published on May 9, 2018. The authors…
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Discussing End-of-Life Arrangements With Your Loved Ones Understandably, most of us do not want to address the subject of death with our families. It is an uncomfortable, scary, and emotionally charged conversation, and it is normal to feel intimidated by it. This is, however, not a reason to avoid the discussion. Even if you are…
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Montana has adopted the Revised Uniform Fiduciary Access to Digital Assets Act In today’s world, the nature of holding our property and our methods of communication have changed dramatically. A generation ago, we delivered all of our mail by post, photos were kept in albums, documents in file cabinets, and money on deposit at the…
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Estate planning for military families With Memorial Day coming up, it is important to honor those that have served our country. This time is also a good opportunity for members of the military and their loved ones to consider their estate plan. Military families may face special estate-planning issues that others do not. This is…
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