My Mom is on Her Deathbed… What Do I Do?
No Will – No Beneficiary Unfortunately, many people leave planning their estate to the last minute, or they never make a plan at all. In this edition, Jeff examines options and advice from other attorneys to a son on Reddit trying to frantically get his mother’s wishes in place as she lies on her deathbed. […]
Howard Hughes Estate Settled… After 34 Years
The Howard Hughes Estate The impossible has happened. No, the federal government hasn’t done away with all death taxes. No, ice cream is not free. No, it’s more astounding than that. Howard Hughes, who died in 1976, will finally have his estate settled and closed. And it only took 34 years! Howard Hughes, the eccentric […]
Why Prenups Blow Up: Seven Ways Premarital Agreements Fail
Prenups “Prenups don’t work!” the YouTuber practically screamed into the microphone, lamenting the downfall of men everywhere whose fortunes were being stolen from their gold-digging exes. [Insert eyeroll here.] “A man works for years, decides to marry a woman, and insists on a prenup. They sign one, and then she leaves taking half his stuff […]
My Spouse Isn’t My Beneficiary?
Life Insurance When it comes to estate planning, coordinating ownership title and beneficiary designations with your revocable living trust and the overall plan is essential if you actually want to avoid probate. In this video, Jeff explains the reasoning behind why your revocable living trust should be the primary beneficiary of life insurance… not your […]
Breaking Down Asset Protection
Protecting Assets Good asset protection planning isn’t as complicated as it may seem. If thought about the right way, it can actually be pretty simple to follow. Unfortunately, there is no magic wand you can waive over a pile of assets and it is instantly protected from lawsuits, divorcing spouses, the elements, and acts of […]
A Divorce Shield? The Domestic Asset Protection Trust
Asset Protection Trust and Divorce Recently, I’ve seen a trend of people wanting to protect their assets from a potential divorce as part of their life planning before getting married. While premarital agreements have a place, there are some ways to get around some or all of the terms in an agreement, and people want […]
Myths of Special Needs Planning
Updated: In this outtake from The Advanced Institute, a professional conference for estate planners, Jeff reviews the prevalent myths in special needs estate planning that need to be overcome when discussing planning with clients. Common Knowledge Myths Special Needs Planning Sometimes something that is “common knowledge” is just a myth, and myths are prevalent in […]
Shielding Wealth in the Next Generation
How can you protect the wealth you leave the next generation? There are varying levels of protection depending on how long you want it protected, and how much control and involvement you want the beneficiary to have. In this post and video, I review and compare protections in a Revocable Living Trust, an Asset Management […]
The Ten Medicaid Planning Myths You Need to Know
It has been some time since I’ve covered Medicaid Myths in this blog, and some of these myths can be deadly to qualifying for Medicaid if followed through. Rather than start a list from scratch, I went straight to the source in my own book The Long-Term Care Solution. Here is an excerpt from Chapter […]
Gifts, Advances, Loans
Balancing An Trust Estate Plan When the Kids Need Money NOW Estate Planning distributions aren’t always clean and even. Sometimes the kids and grandkids need money during life, and providing it to them can raise questions. (This can also be true when using a Will, but now the probate court is involved.) But whether something […]