As part of my procedure of reviewing or creating an estate plan, I have the clients pull up the beneficiary documents for various accounts (life insurance, bank, pensions, etc.), in part just to make sure they know who is designated the beneficiary is, and to have them changed if necessary. Recently, I ...
Tag Archive: Estate Planning
Do-It-Yourself Will Computer Programs
From Season 2 of "The Office," Dwight Schrute explains why he doesn't tip the delivery person: Why tip someone for a job I’m capable of doing myself? I can deliver food. I can drive a taxi. I can, and do, cut my own hair. I ...
How Often Should I Review or Update My Estate Plan?
You should review your estate plan every several years to make sure it still comports with your current decisions. Moreover, you should definitely have your estate plan updated upon a major life event, such as having children, purchasing a home, or a divorce.
Estate Planning for Your Online Life
With all this talk about your creating your estate plan, what's one to do about all of your accounts online, like email? Time Magazine recently printed an article about people's email accounts after they've passed away. Family members try to get into the deceased's Facebook or email accounts, trying to preserve ...
Adding Multiple Beneficiaries to Your Retirement Accounts
Awhile back I posted about adding beneficiaries to your bank accounts as part of your overall estate plan. This allows the money in those accounts to go directly to the person(s) you've selected, without having to go through the probate process. The Tax Guy (Bill Bischoff) over at Smart Money wrote an article ...
A Case of the Mondays: Humor in Estate Planning
I've written in the past about how important it is to prepare an estate plan, especially if you have minor children. If my seriousness wasn't enough to get you to do it, perhaps some Monday funnies would help. Humor website The Onion has it's take on Preparing a Living Will.* *The Fine ...
It Might Be Cheaper to Create an Estate Plan
My fellow SoCal attorneys over at the California Estate Planning Blog wrote about the increased filing costs in Los Angeles County. Their example considers a common situation: If you are married, own a home and have a minor child -- the following could very ...
Bank Accounts and Estate Planning
One of the goals of estate planning is to avoid probate. If you already have an estate plan, you may have already designated a beneficiary to your bank accounts to receive the proceeds upon your death. Sometimes these accounts are referred to "Totten Trusts" or "Payable Upon Death" (P.O.D.), but the effect is still the ...