It’s a new year! Time to dust of your estate plan and review your documents. While not much may have changed, if anything for that matter, it is still useful to perform an estate plan audit on a regular basis to ensure your documents are always kept up to date. Did you have mom and […]
We write a lot about trusts here at Epilawg: selecting the right trustees, how trusts can be useful during periods of incapacity, and utilizing trusts for blended families, just to name a few recent posts. What we have not discussed is the situation that can arise when the need to amend a trust is necessary […]
It is that time of year for eggnog and Yule logs, menorahs and dreidels, Christmas carols and Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, Ralphie and the Griswolds, and so much more that puts us all in the holiday spirit. While this time of year is joyous for most, it is also very stressful. Families gather near and […]
March 17, 1902 – December 18, 1971 In the world of sports, names such as Palmer, Nicklaus, and Woods are most associated with the game of golf. However, even before all of them, there was Bobby Jones, who is arguably the best golfer of all time. Mr. Jones’ legend is not just for his accomplishments […]
I recently wrote about portability, specifically, what it is and how to elect it. This post takes it one step further, discussing how portability and gifting interact.
We hear about it in the news, someone famous has disinherited a family member, or even more exciting, the whole family! Sometimes we even hear from the disgruntled “non-beneficiary” with an explanation or a tell-all critique of the person who did the disinheriting. But we rarely hear about it with the perspective that Mary Beth Caschetta […]
For those of you out there that are residents of Minnesota and owners of a small business or family farm, there is a relatively new law offering relief from the Minnesota estate tax.
July 16, 1887 – December 5, 1951 Today is the 60th anniversary of “Shoeless Joe” Jackson’s death. Joe Jackson was a Major League Baseball player in the early 1900s. Mr. Jackson received his nickname “Shoeless Joe” because he played part of a minor league game without shoes since the ones he had been wearing had […]
Can your family survive on $250 each month? The average American has $50,000 of life insurance through work, which equals about $250 per month in income replacement. Are you that average American? Can your family survive on $250 each month? Many income earners think, “Life insurance doesn’t fit into my budget. Life insurance is expensive. […]
When working with clients on their estate plans, one of the most important items to consider and understand is how real estate is titled. First, let’s discuss what “title” means. Title is a legal term that describes a bundle of rights in a piece of property. The rights in the bundle may be separated and […]
If a testator executes a Will before getting married and never updates the Will to include the spouse before he or she passes away, the surviving spouse is known as a pretermitted spouse. In such case, state statutes provide that the pretermitted spouse is entitled to inherit an amount equal to what the spouse would […]