What Happens to Your Business When You Die?
Business owners spend years building something valuable. They create systems, develop customers, hire employees, pay vendors, buy equipment, sign leases, open accounts, and hopefully build something that has value beyond just the income it produces from month to month. But one of the most important questions often gets ignored: What actually happens to that business […]
Rental Property and Trusts: 5 Things to Know
Can Rental Property Create A Planning Problem Owning rental property can be a great way to build wealth, but rental property creates a planning problem that your home, checking account, and investment accounts usually don’t. You aren’t just owning an asset. You’re also operating a business, dealing with tenants, maintaining property, collecting rent, signing contracts, […]
Why Some Assets Avoid Probate… And Others Don’t
“But Mom and Dad Had a Trust.” I hear that sentence all the time, and honestly, I understand why families are confused when they say it. Two exhausted adult children sat across from me in my conference room after losing both of their parents within a relatively short period of time. Their parents had done […]
When “Legally Competent” Isn’t Safe
Huntington’s Disease There’s a phrase I use when working with families dealing with progressive conditions like Huntington’s Disease: this isn’t about taking away the keys, it’s about deciding when it’s time—and making sure you don’t wait too long. Most people initially think that phrase is about driving, but in reality, it applies to something much […]
Bitcoin & Your Living Trust
The Self-Custody vs Coinbase Estate Planning Trap Every few months, someone sits across from me and says something like this: “I’ve got some Bitcoin. It’s in a wallet. My trust covers everything, right?” And the honest answer is: maybe. It depends entirely on what you mean by “wallet.” When it comes to cryptocurrency, there are […]
The Gun Trust Loophole You Can Use Now
So, you’ve finally done it. You spent over a grand and waited months for your brand-new suppressor. Awesome. You want to let your brother or a buddy try it out at the range this weekend, but you can’t be there. Seems simple, right? Harmless? Well, that simple act could actually be a federal crime—an “accidental […]