Parents generally try to treat all their children fairly. We often assume that fairness means leaving an equal inheritance to each child. However, “fair” does not always mean “equal.” A thoughtful estate plan considers each child’s unique circumstances to create distributions that truly support their needs.
Here are some...
The idea of one-size-fits-all no longer fits a world where people expect products and services to be tailored to their individual preferences.
The estate planning world, long rooted in tradition, has relied on time-tested tools such as trusts to plan for what happens to a person’s money and property....
If you have been named the person responsible for settling a deceased loved one’s affairs, commonly called an executor or personal representative (if your loved one had no estate plan or had a will) or a successor trustee (if they had a trust), you may find yourself overwhelmed by grief and a...
Receiving an inheritance, whether large or small, often comes with a wide range of emotions, from the grief of losing a loved one to the hope and excitement about the possibilities the inheritance may create. According to Northwestern Mutual’s 2025 Planning & Progress study, over half (57 percent) of Americans who expect...
A revocable living trust can serve as a valuable estate planning tool to help ensure that your finances remain well managed if you become incapacitated (unable to manage your affairs while you are alive) and to provide future financial security for your loved ones upon your passing. However, merely signing the trust...
The bad news: When a person dies owning property in their sole name without a beneficiary, their loved ones will have to go through a court-supervised process called probate to transfer the property out of the deceased person’s name and into the name of intended beneficiaries or heirs at law. Going through...
From the moment a child is born, a parent feels an instinctive drive to protect and nurture. We childproof our homes, carefully choose schools, offer guidance through adolescence, support their careers, and watch with pride as they start their own lives.
The desire to be there for them extends...
You and your spouse have recently divorced, and the judge has signed the divorce decree. Now what? Although you may feel that you have spent enough time and money on lawyers, there is one last attorney you need to talk to: an estate planning attorney. If you and your former spouse created...
Most people may be surprised to learn that the federal estate tax is considered by some to be voluntary. Estate planning attorneys used to say, “You only pay if you do not plan.” The relatively recent introduction of portability provides yet another planning tool available to married couples to minimize or eliminate...
Disinheritance—the intentional exclusion of a family member, usually a child or spouse, from receiving part of your estate after your death—is more common than you might think. It is also easier than you might think to disinherit a loved one, with a couple of notable exceptions. However, it is not as simple...
