Roughly two-thirds of Americans do not have an estate plan, according to a recent survey from Caring.com.[1] If you are among the minority of US adults who have prepared a will, living trust, and other end-of-life documents, you may think that your estate plan is settled. But you might want to think again. An estate plan […]
The duties of a trustee has been covered by this blog in the past. Long time readers will know that a trustee has a duty under the law to communicate with beneficiaries and keep them reasonably informed as to the progress of the trust administration. In Texas, trustees are required to provide annual accounting of the […]
In a society dominated by information and paperwork, the question of how long to you should keep important documents is baffling for most people. We especially worry about documents of a financial or personally identifying nature. People who worry about losing something important sometimes keep everything; others who worry about things like identity theft often share […]
While the term “fiduciary” is a legal term with a long history, it very generally means someone who is legally obligated to act in another person’s best interests. Trustees, executors, and agents are all examples of fiduciaries. When you pick trustees, executors, and agents in your estate plan, you’re picking one or more people to make […]
When crafting an estate plan, an important component is the Financial Power of Attorney document. In a financial power of attorney [1], you designate a trusted decision maker (agent or attorney-in-fact) to act on your behalf if you become disabled or unable to manage your financial affairs. Depending on the provisions you choose to include, your agent […]
Although your death is probably a long way off, it is important that you have a plan to ensure that your affairs are settled in the way that you want. An estate plan crafted by an experienced estate planning attorney is a legally enforceable set of documents that allows you to name who will have the […]
When you think about how you want your property to be distributed after your death, most of the time it is easy to identify that property—your home, your cars, your jewelry, etc. But what about the genetic material used in assisted reproductive technology, such as frozen sperm, eggs, and embryos? Is genetic material stored with your […]
Cryptocurrency’s popularity has rapidly increased in recent years, with more people buying and selling it. Here are three things you need to know about cryptocurrency in relation to your estate plan. Beware of the Tax Consequences Transferring your cryptocurrency to other people, either during life or at your death, could have income, estate, and gift tax […]
