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...
Everyone’s favorite topic: confronting their own mortality
We all agree that it is smart to write wills explaining how we want our life assets to be divided. But – only about half of us get around to making our intentions clear. A major reason for this failure is human nature: the topic of our own death makes us...Why someone might use a deathbed will
As the name implies, a deathbed will is a will made up at the last second, when someone is very close to passing away. These are dangerous, as it’s often very easy for people to contest them. They can claim that the person who passed away wasn’t in his or...2 common estate planning myths
There are a lot of myths about estate planning, and if New York residents buy into these myths, it could leave their best laid estate plans in ruin. This article will discuss two persisting myths about estate planning for people who are married, why these myths...Be careful with your digital will
More and more, experts are suggesting that people create digital wills for the division of online assets. Much of this has to do with granting access to your accounts and ensuring that people can get into them after you pass away. For example, perhaps you have an...How do you choose an estate executor?
In the past few weeks, we’ve talked about the importance of a will and how to avoid some common estate-planning mistakes. We’ve also covered the fiduciary role, so you know it’s important to choose the right person when you are picking people to...The most common estate planning mistakes
The recent death of pop-star Prince revealed that the musician and renowned philanthropist passed away without creating a will. Court papers filed by the musician’s sister revealed the absence of a will shortly after his death. It is surprising that such a...Adding a list of property to your will
You may know that it’s quite important to update your will. Despite the fact that most people don’t do it often enough–one study found that a full 86 percent of people had not updated at all in the previous five years–you know that changing...Not all property can be covered by a will
When people tell you to write a will, they’ll often suggest that you should at least have a document saying you leave everything that you own to your children, or something similar. While this can be helpful, it’s important to note that such general wills...How many people don’t have wills?
If you don’t have a will, do you feel like you’re the only one, or do you perhaps not know many other people who do have them? While your age clearly plays into this–as people are more likely to write a will as they get older–it’s worth...
