Wilbur Wright


May 30, 2012
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April 16, 1867 – May 30, 1912 Earlier this year, marked the 64th anniversary of Orville Wright’s death. However, today is the 100th anniversary of the other Wright Brother’s death – Wilbur Wright. Wilbur was the older of the two Wright Brothers but died much earlier at the age of 45. Wilbur died of typhoid […]

Life Insurance Policy Review…A Disaster or Solution Waiting to Happen?


May 28, 2012
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For insured’s under the misperception that their life insurance policy is iron clad simply because they pay their annually billed premium, these folks may be in for an abrupt and expensive surprise.  Many policies are designed to stay in force only on the basis of critical assumptions being met or exceeded over the life of […]

The Perils & Pitfalls of Joint Accounts


May 18, 2012
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Suppose your aging mother asks your sister to take care of her finances and help her to balance her checkbook. You live out of town, and think it’s a great idea. To make things easier, your mother adds your sister as a joint owner of her bank account. When your mother dies, her Will leaves […]

Arresting Motion: Estate Planning for Artists


May 14, 2012
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PART IV: HOW? DETERMINING THE TOOLS. “When an artist of talent makes a painting or a sculpture, he is always aware of the potentials and limitations of his materials; the better the artist, the more likely he is to know just what he can and cannot do with them.” ~Bruce Cole, Art Scholar and Senior […]

Economic Update


May 9, 2012
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Our good fortune has continued with expanded growth in the markets.  This is typical of an election year and if history is any indication, there should be more of this to come.  The Dow Jones Industrial Average is up over 13,000 and the NASDAQ Composite has reached a new high as well (much of this […]

Henry David Thoreau


May 6, 2012
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July 12, 1817 – May 6, 1862 Today is the 150th anniversary of Henry David Thoreau’s death. He died at age 44 – probably just scratching the surface at all he had to offer the world. To say Thoreau impacted lives is an understatement. For a touching op-ed on Thoreau’s influence, you can read Michael […]

What is probate and do you need to avoid it?


May 2, 2012
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My clients frequently claim that their number one goal in establishing an estate plan is to “avoid probate.” Upon further discussion, I discover that most have a number of misconceptions regarding what probate actually is. Probate Probate is, quite simply, the legal process by which assets owned by a decedent are transferred to the rightful […]