Funny what some people think about estate planning.
Ask your average person on the street about any number of topics—baseball stats, the latest scandal news running on CNN, where to buy a good lawn mower, whatever—and you’ll probably get an earful of mostly accurate information. Ask the average person what he or she knows about estate planning and you might get some real doozies of misinformation. I think that’s because estate planning is about getting old, death, family and finances—and that’s a combination a lot of people would rather not think about. I am continually amazed by some of the things new clients tell me when it comes to estate...
Read MoreEven the basics can get complicated
If you’ve been in my office, you’ve heard me say that the basic elements of a typical estate plan are: a trust to prevent probate and hold property for beneficiaries until they reach a certain age; a back-up will; a power of attorney for finances; and an advance health care directive. Simple—until it’s not. Alejandro and Alicia are old clients of mine and they were in the process of buying a house for one of their daughters and her family when their son and his wife—living outside the country—were about to have a first baby. Alejandro and Alicia were concerned that the house buying deal...
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