A good estate plan helps to alleviate conflict in any family. Blended families--that is, spouses who have children from a previous relationship--may have additional concerns that should be discussed with an estate planning expert. Here are some basic tips: Figure Out Your Goals With family planning that includes stepchildren, some estate planning decisions may not [...]
If you're named the Personal Presentative (PR) in a will, you will be the one administering the deceased person's estate. This will require you to manage many things. You'll find that being a PR is a labor of love. It's about honoring the deceased and serving the heirs. The following list can give you an [...]
Are you considering getting a divorce? Do you have questions about the legal, financial, family and personal issues that are involved? If so, then Second Saturday may be for you. Second Saturday is a divorce workshop taught by a family law attorney, a financial professional and a counselor. These professionals will provide you with knowledge [...]
Given the dramatic rise in property values over the last several years in Southeastern Minnesota, your home has probably appreciated in value. However, there's a good chance that the profit from your home sale will not be taxable. Unmarried individuals can exclude up to $250,000 in profits from capital gains tax when they sell their [...]
A living trust, set up during your lifetime, is designed to allow for easy transfer of your assets. A trustee holds legal possession of the assets and property in your trust and has fiduciary duty to manage the trust prudently for the trust's beneficiaries. Most significantly, it lets you skip probate. Unlike a will, a [...]
Are you in an age-gap relationship? Five percent of first marriages and 20% of second marriages need a special focus on making both of your needs work. Financial matters for large age-gap retirement planning include retirement funding, Social Security planning and health care costs. Retirement planning. Imagine a scenario in which the older spouse is ready [...]
Estate planning is about defining and living out your legacy both during your lifetime and after you are gone. A well-drafted estate plan can give you peace of mind that the people and organizations you support are well cared for. Yet there are a lot of myths that still need debunking: Myth #1: Estate planning [...]
Special Needs Trusts can hold assets for the benefit of an individual with disabilities while still allowing her to maintain eligibility for governmental assistance programs like Supplemental Security Income and Medicaid. This is because the assets in a Special Needs Trust do not count toward the asset limit for such programs. The Special Needs Trust [...]
While your divorce is ongoing, make sure to meet your legal obligations to your spouse while exercising as much control over your assets as possible. Financial law is full of provisions designed to protect your property if anything happens to you, which is just as important during a divorce as it is at any other [...]
An Estate is everything someone owns at the time of death. The process of paying bills and distributing what's left is called Probate. The executor (or personal representative) of an Estate uses the deceased person's assets to pay off the Estate's debts. Debts Paid During the Probate Process The executor might write checks from the deceased [...]
