A revocable trust is a powerful document because it allows you to retain ownership of your assets, avoid probate, and distribute them per your wishes. One of the things we continue to stress to people is that creating the trust is only the first half of the equation. The other component, often neglected, is that you fund the trust. This entails transferring your assets into it. Though this applies to any of your Read More

One of the reasons we focus on elder law is that when long-term care considerations impact our families, many overwhelming things happen. This is a terrifying time in a family’s life. There are several elements that people worry about before they commit to putting a loved one in long-term care: Are they going to get the proper care and support? Am I choosing the wrong nursing home? Am I making my loved one’s Read More

One of the three essential steps to having a complete estate plan focuses on documents. Not having a document is like building an engine, putting it on a lift, and then trying to ride it. You don’t have the body of a car or any semblance of a complete vehicle. Whatever estate planning documents you have (and we typically encourage people to form trusts) must go somewhere. When we hand people their estate planning Read More

Changes in law can be simple yet profound in their effects on small businesses. Understanding these changes helps owners make better decisions and comply with new regulations. One such upcoming change is the Corporate Transparency Act (CTA), which is set to reshape the landscape for many U.S. businesses. It introduces reporting requirements to enhance transparency and combat financial crimes. These requirements Read More

Did you know that your IRA is one of the types of assets protected if you enter a nursing home? Although your estate planning attorney won’t help you invest or manage it, they should be—at the very least—informing you of this important protection. Your IRA is the type of asset that doesn’t allow you to change ownership. You can’t share it or gift it without significant consequences. For this reason, we don’t Read More

How your estate will be taxed will change at the beginning of 2026. Understanding what they are and how much they apply is important for creating an estate plan. Don’t dismiss that last point because you haven’t formed a plan and have no intention of doing so; that is a separate issue. Because every adult needs a plan, this is universally applicable. However, this tax impacts individuals and families with substantial Read More

Recently, we did some planning for a mother and her son. This involved plans tailored to each and creating joint estate planning documents such as trusts and LLCs. Because they had acquired some new property, we updated their titles to coordinate with the deeds and LLCs. We are telling you this because the client discussed a fascinating story that aligns with this blog's title.  Here’s What Happened:  The client Read More

Financial advisors are not estate planners. They gather documents but cannot do the same tasks with them in the way an estate planning attorney can. For instance, financial advisors can’t review them and offer legal estate planning advice. Financial advisors often tell you that they don’t need to see your legal documents or have them on file to review them when something happens because they simply aren’t attorneys. Read More

  What is the best form of beneficiary designation? We hear this from many of our clients—or prospective clients. This happens when we prepare someone’s estate plan. We’ve gone through the steps of their wishes, and they’ve signed the document. We’ve explained how to title their home in the name of their trust and sign and record the deed. We’ve even given them paperwork about retitling their bank accounts, and then Read More

  When we meet with clients, we get asked whether it makes a difference whether they have an estate plan. Before we walk them through the process, we ask what estate planning means to them. Because of how frequently estate planning myths are perpetuated, people responded that they don’t need a plan due to how few assets they own. Or they say that the assets they do have aren’t valuable enough to warrant a proper Read More