Family heirlooms probably make at least as much conflict between heirs as stocks, bonds, cash and other things many people see as “wealth.” Sometimes siblings become so bitter about what happens to things of so little value that even experts in estate planning are...
When you least expect it, an illness or injury can leave you unable to communicate. If you don’t have any direction for your medical care, your family and doctors must decide on how to treat you. But when you are in a vulnerable medical state, you want someone you...
A will is meant to ensure you take care of your family after you’re gone. If you don’t outline your wishes, the courts probably won’t spend much time guessing. Only 44% of Americans have penned a plan for when they die. The rest, whether they intend or not, are...
When you welcome your first child, your life forever changes. For the first few months, you are busy caring for a newborn—figuring out how to soothe your child, feed them and survive some sleepless nights. While many parents do lots of research on the best car seat,...
Americans are confused. They're confused about estate planning and rightfully so, it's a diverse topic. Should you create a will, a trust or both? It depends because they serve different purposes, but both can be beneficial to form a complete estate plan. Will and...
Creating an estate plan is an important responsibility that can help you ensure that your family is taken care of in the event of your death. If you’re a small business owner, this responsibility is even more important, as both your business and your family could face...
You may feel uncomfortable bringing up your estate plan with family, and some family members may even try to change the topic when you do so. However, many benefits can come from talking with your loved ones about your estate plan.Communicating at least the basics...
For many New Yorkers, the creation of an estate plan is viewed as final with no changes necessary. Some might have taken a significant amount of time before finally crafting an estate plan to prepare for the future, but when they did they were fully prepared to leave...
A well-drafted estate plan should represent your wishes at the time you and your lawyer executed it. However, life can throw a lot of changes at you, and you may find that after a few years your plan no longer reflects your wishes. With wills and other estate planning...
New York State can be a hotbed for the art scene with many people collecting valuable items. Collectibles are not limited to artwork, however. Anything can rise in value based on its popularity and historic significance. That includes sports collectibles, coins,...
