Modern is typically not a word you would use to describe an estate plan. However, it could be one worth considering if you want to ensure others can carry out your wishes in the future. What is a modern estate plan? In many ways, a modern estate plan is the same as...
Is Your Estate Plan Accessible?
If you have put forth the time, thought, and effort to create an estate plan, you want to know that others will carry out that plan when the time comes. However, that may not happen if administrators or loved ones run into problems accessing your plan and supporting...
Should You Discuss Your Estate Plan With Your Children?
Thinking about what will happen to your estate and end-of-life plans isn’t necessarily the most pleasant topic for discussion with your adult children, but it can be a critical one. Before having this discussion, prepare by considering the participants’ personal...
How Can You Help a Loved One Who Is Showing Signs of Dementia?
Dementia is an illness that usually strikes in old age. It robs a person of their memory and can lead to the afflicted person becoming a danger to themselves. In advanced stages, dementia can lead to the body’s “forgetting” even involuntary actions, such as how to...
Updating Your Beneficiaries: When and Where to Do It
Naming your beneficiaries is a crucial step in ensuring your property passes to your intended parties after you pass away. You can name beneficiaries in your will, trust, insurance policies, and retirement accounts. However, naming your beneficiaries is just one part...
Is it Possible to Avoid Probate in Minnesota?
The short answer to the question above is, Yes. The slightly longer answer is that it is possible to avoid probate, but only under certain circumstances and only if parties take specific steps. How to avoid probate The necessity of the probate process is determined...
How do Charitable Remainder Trusts Work?
Leaving a gift to a charitable organization may very well be a crucial goal for you as you develop your estate plan. Establishing a trust could be one way to accomplish this, but there are several different options to consider. One such option is a charitable...
What is an Asset Protection Trust?
One of the top estate planning priorities people have is to protect their assets from seizure and maximize their value. They want their property to benefit their loved ones, not creditors. If you have assets you want to shield from creditors, as well as lawsuits and...
Accounting For Real Property in Your Estate Plan
It can be complicated to put real estate into your estate plan to pass on to your loved ones. But it’s also true that your real property may comprise some of the most valuable and expensive assets that you own. You certainly need to know how to pass this on to the...
Signs of Undue Influence (and How it Affects a Will)
A will serves as a person's legal declaration of their wishes for the distribution of their estate. However, for too many willmakers with diminished capacity, a will becomes a tool for someone else to use for their own financial gain. Under these circumstances,...