Despite the piles of paperwork many find the process of purchasing a house to be exciting. Watching the realtor slap a “SOLD” sticker across the sign, and having a set of keys slid across the closing table are moments many people remember fondly. Over time that house becomes a home. Memories are made as kids’ […]
7 Ways to Beat the Caregiver Shortage for Your Parent’s Home Care
A new report from PHI and LeadingAge Minnesota paints a clear picture of Minnesota’s changing demographics and its impact on providing care at home to elderly parents. Here are just a couple of the facts from the State of Care: Minnesota’s Home Care Landscape report: By 2020, for the first time in history, Minnesota’s 65+ […]
The Health Care Directive – an Easy First Step into Estate Planning

There are many forms of Health Care Directives online – different styles and formats. It is often emphasized that, more than filling out the form, it’s the conversations it can spark that are really impactful. That is of course an excellent point, but I think simply getting people to fill out the form is pretty […]
Big Banks vs. Community Banks: Who Should You Trust with Your Trust?

When it comes to large estates, the advantages of using a corporate trustee instead of administering your own trust are relatively straightforward. A corporate trustee ensures that costly errors don’t take a large chunk out of your assets, while also offering protection against fraud, theft, and other risks. When deciding on a corporate trustee, however, […]
Diminished Capacity and Estate Planning

As anyone who has created an estate plan knows, in order to finalize the plan, you must sign documents. These documents may be wills, trusts, powers of attorney, health care directives, deeds, or any other related form or document. In order to sign these documents, a person must have sufficient capacity, otherwise the documents may […]
Litigation: The Power of Process
Litigation has been glorified — and fictionalized — in movies and on television since those media came into existence: the courtroom drama Perry Mason was the first-ever weekly one-hour series filmed for television. In real life, however, litigation is often criticized as a time-consuming, costly, and unnecessary process. Of course, litigation can be expensive and […]
Decanting a Trust: What it Means and When it Should be Considered

Is this about wine? Unfortunately, no. What does it mean to decant a trust? Trust decanting is the process of pouring the assets of one irrevocable trust (the “original trust”) into a second irrevocable trust with more desirable terms (the “new trust”). There are many restrictions on when and how a trust may be decanted, […]
Tips to Make Your Senior Care Dollars Go Further
Find Out How You Can Manage Retirement Health Care Costs A recent Harris Poll found that retirement health care costs terrify most Americans over the age of 50. The poll also found that it is important to talk about health care costs with a trusted advisor, as it gave seniors more confidence about the future. […]
Five Scams to be Aware of During Tax Season
Tax season opens up opportunities for criminals to take advantage of people. Here are five ways that you can avoid becoming a victim this tax season: 1. Phishing. You receive an email that seems to be from a legitimate sender (such as the IRS), and it demands payment for overdue taxes or requests you update […]
Tax Deductions for Estate Planning Fees
New Digital Asset Law May Be a Double-Edged Sword

As an increasing amount of our information and assets is stored online or in cloud-based services, access to such content is at the forefront of succession and estate planning. While service providers encourage us to store our family pictures, music collections and stock certificates electronically, access to those items for our loved ones becomes more […]