If you do not have children, whether by choice or circumstance, estate planning can feel like it was not designed with you in mind. Most of the conversations around estate planning and legacy assume that there is a next generation to plan...
Legal documents can feel abstract when nobody immediately needs them or you have never used them. In much the same way, the risk of a wildfire, hurricane, or other emergency can feel remote until you experience one firsthand. Therefore, it is wise...
You never stop being a parent. Even when your child reaches adulthood, they are always in your thoughts—and, in many cases, your estate plan. Creating an estate plan for an adult child is an important step to ensure your family's future is...
With dementia cases in the United States estimated to double by 2060—and roughly 42 percent of Americans over age 55 at risk of developing dementia according to recent research1—a diagnosis is something that more and more families will...
At some point, each of us may face the difficult task of walking through a deceased parent’s home. Empty in one sense—but not in another. The person is gone, but a lifetime of belongings remain.
Going from room to...
The estate of Michael Jackson continues to attract attention years after his death because it remains under long-term court supervision. Situations like this often raise questions about why estates for famous individuals can take decades to resolve. Large or complicated estates can...
Disability is often treated as a remote possibility, something that happens to other people. Yet one of the most persistent blind spots in planning conversations is disability risk. Disability is not limited to conditions that we are born with. It can arise...
An 80-year-old widower relied on his adult daughter for help with his daily life and finances for more than a decade. During that time, she managed his finances under a valid financial power of attorney, handling savings, pension income, and proceeds from...
Today, so much of what once existed in material form now lives entirely online. Estate planning for digital assets is crucial as our photos, finances, business operations, and even our identities are stored on devices and platforms and in cloud accounts. Without...
A partridge in a pear tree? Lords a-leaping? Many of us may know the lyrics to “The Twelve Days of Christmas,” but few likely know its origin or the meanings behind the song. And what is the story with the 12 days,...
