As a business person you may have seen the term “durable power of attorney” in several situations. Power of attorney is a strange term because it’s not immediately clear what powers an attorney for the business may have.
Do you have accounts, records or information that are accessed using your mobile phone, through an internet connection, or by using a keyboard or through a touch-screen or tablet?
Trusts are an essential part of most estate plans, even the plans of people with moderate wealth. You need to know the basics of trusts, especially the key terms and concepts of the most widely-used types of trusts.
Your real estate holdings, life insurance, bank accounts and retirement savings won’t magically flow into your trust.
It is surprisingly easy and common to make mistakes when designating beneficiaries on retirement and investment accounts.
Remember that a will goes through probate, so a husband and wife typically try to avoid it by using joint ownership or beneficiary designations. However, they’re often mistaken by believing the will still controls their estate.
Estate planning is an incredibly important tool, not just for the uber wealthy or those thinking about retirement. On the contrary, estate planning is something every adult should do.
A trustee is a manager of assets in a trust. The grantor creates the trust and appoints the trustee. A trustee has a ‘fiduciary duty’ to serve the grantor and not benefit personally.
It’s hard to plan for next week, let alone the future, when our environment, the advice from the experts and indeed the outbreak itself, seems to change on a daily basis.
The Covid-19 has produced a rise in estate planning…but not a large enough one. Most Americans still do not have a last will and testament.
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