Over the 4th of July weekend, I came home from a trip to one of my favorite places on earth: Alpine, Arizona. This is where my family has had a cabin since I was 5 years old. The cabin itself doesn’t amount to much, but...
Taxation on Wills and Trusts? Part of wise estate planning is to understand laws concerning taxation of wills and trusts before you or your beneficiaries need to act on them. Phelps LaClair, serving Chandler, Mesa, Phoenix, Scottsdale, and Gilbert, has been helping clients with the ins...
Having transparent conversations with your adult children about your estate plan is difficult enough without the complication of divorce or remarriage. And if there are stepchildren involved, maintaining healthy relationships while planning for the future can be even more challenging. At Phelps LaClair, serving Scottsdale...
Today’s blog post visits the past with a curious look at the earliest will in history, and a quick jaunt through some strange ideas for bequeathing estates to family members or friends. At our Phelps LaClair offices located in Mesa, Chandler, and Phoenix, AZ, we’ve...
There are definitely important things to include in all estate planning: making sure all of your assets are covered, naming beneficiaries, and reducing tax burdens are a few items among that crucial list. But you also want to be aware of what should not be...
Trusts can be used to your advantage for personal and business reasons to accomplish your goals of reducing or eliminating your estate taxes. Other benefits of trusts include: asset protection, probate avoidance, and safeguarding from creditors or lawsuits. Many types of trusts exist, and they each...
Besides the peace of mind it offers, one of the main advantages of a revocable living trust is the ease of making changes according to your wishes. Amending a revocable trust is a fairly simple process and help from your estate planner will make it...
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...
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...
Should your vehicle be in your living trust? A living trust gives you more control over the distribution of your assets when you're gone. But sometimes, determining which assets to include in your living trust can be confusing. Fortunately, the Phelps LaClair team can help...