Trusts offer numerous advantages compared to wills. They offer you more control over your assets and help your loved ones avoid probate. They even offer enhanced privacy protection. A will, on the other hand, puts your assets through the expensive and lengthy probate process. Since...
Have you recently created a living trust? That’s fantastic! Trusts are wonderful tools for protecting estate assets like bank accounts, money market accounts, properties, businesses, cars, boats, and more. Another big benefit of living trusts is that they keep your estate out of probate court....
A revocable living trust is a powerful estate planning tool, but it's only effective as long as you remember to fund it after you set it up. That means retitling your assets or naming the trust as the beneficiary of certain accounts. For instance, putting...
Julie, an estate planner, recently went out for dinner with her friend Jordan. While they were eating, Jordan mentioned a show she had seen about the luxurious expanse of Drake’s mansion. “His estate is huge!” she remarked, which turned the conversation toward the word “estate.”...
Estate planning aims to ensure that your assets are distributed exactly according you your wishes. However, achieving this goal can be complex. “Do you need a trust if you have beneficiaries?” is a common question we get. While naming beneficiaries for your accounts is a...
At Phelps LaClair, we encourage our clients to plan for the future, including the unknowns in life. Staying active and exercising regularly helps keep your heart healthy. We often enjoy swimming as a way to improve our health! Swimming offers many benefits, from reducing your...
If you find yourself wondering how to begin estate planning, or if early estate planning makes sense, you are on the right track! Covering the details about what will happen to you or your loved ones if an accident occurs is a necessary step in...
Wondering when to start estate planning? It’s a question that pops up from time to time, but in young adult life it can seem unimportant. Many young people consider estate planning the type of task that can gets pushed off for another time...
Divorce rates have recently been on the decline—that is, among young people. Couples over the age of 50 have been divorcing at much higher rates over the past twenty years. Between 1990 and 2010, this age group doubled their divorce rate. In 2010 alone, 1...
Are you wondering what happens when your partner dies? How will the surviving loved one be cared for? Death benefits for unmarried couples only exist if you create them. You can decide where your assets go—whether you give them to friends, family, charities, or a...