What the rest of us need to know about estate planning
Still only about 1/3 of us have a plan of OUR design in place…some of us have started but never followed through. What can this mean for our assets in the future: I don’t need a plan…I don’t have an “estate.” If you have a bank account, a condo/house, retirement plan, bitcoin, baseball card collection…
Aretha Franklin passed away 3 years ago…leaving a MESS! Initially, it was thought she didn’t leave a will…she actually left 4 in various places in her homes (amazing what one finds under couch cushions)! One of Ms. Franklin’s sons has special needs and has a guardian, no support was provided for him, as Ms. Franklin…
The term Living Will is incredibly misleading and confusing as it has nothing to do with a Last Will & Testament (a/k/a Will). A Living Will also has NOTHING to do with a Living Trust. So what is a Living Will? Here’s another self-important phrase – Advanced Directive. Sounds like something from a Sci-Fi show…
Tying the knot in Massachusetts does not give each spouse an automatic “all assets default to the surviving spouse,” estate plan. Under Massachusetts Probate laws, if a spouse dies without a Will (or trust) in place, assets, in the name of one spouse only, do not automatically go to the surviving spouse. The spouse may…
Caring.com produces an annual survey showing how we are doing in terms of creating and maintaining a Personal or Family Contingency Plan™ (my words – estate plan = their words). The 2021 survey, states that “while the COVID-19 pandemic has increased people’s desire to get a will (35% saw a greater need), the overall percentage…
“No matter how much or how little you have, estate planning determines the future of your belongings, your money, and your family if you are incapacitated or after we pass… only 32% of American adults have a will or other estate planning documents, according to Caring.com’s 2020 Estate Planning and Wills Study, because they simply…