One of the main reasons that a person creates a revocable living trust (a trust established during a person’s lifetime that they can amend or revoke) instead of relying on a will to transfer their money and property to their beneficiaries is to avoid probate. Probate is the court process during which a person’s will is […]
When tackling estate planning, adding a payable-on-death (POD) or transfer-on-death (TOD) designation to an account allows the assets (money and property) in that account to be passed to a named beneficiary when the original account holder dies. Like trusts, POD and TOD accounts bypass probate. They are also fast, easy, and usually free to set up. […]
Small business owners will have one more item on their compliance to-do list when the Corporate Transparency Act (CTA) takes effect next year. The CTA,[1] enacted as part of the Anti-Money Laundering Act of 2020 (AMLA), places new reporting requirements on many business entities in an effort to expose illegal activities, including the use of shell companies […]
You have a lot riding on your small business. You have invested your money, time, and sweat equity to build a company that will be successful for years to come. Even if you make all the right business moves, unexpected costs can arise at any time. Accidents, natural disasters, data breaches, and other unexpected occurrences are an […]
It has been said that nothing ever dies on the Internet. While this dictum is typically used as a warning that what we put online may come back to haunt us, it is also true that our online accounts can outlive us, and even live in perpetuity. Having a digital estate plan that makes arrangements for […]
One important purpose of estate planning is to facilitate the transfer of ownership of your money and property to your family and loved ones when you pass away. For this transfer to be as stress-free and efficient as possible, it is crucial that estate planning documents be thorough and provide the necessary information. Nevertheless, there is […]
If you are thinking about creating an estate plan, you may hear some new and confusing terms that can make your head spin. To add to your bewilderment, not only are some of the words unfamiliar, they may also be homophones—words that are pronounced the same as other words, but have different meanings and spellings. For […]
When creating a trust, it is common to name yourself as the initial trustee who is responsible for all aspects of administering the trust. However, when considering who will take over when you can no longer act (either because of illness or death), it is sometimes helpful to divide the responsibilities between two or more successor […]
