If you’re in a blended family, such as a second marriage with children from a previous relationship, you can do much to keep the peace in your family with your estate plan. One way to keep the peace, using your estate plan, is to specifically consider and plan for your children. This could include not making your children wait until your second spouse dies before they will inherit. Waiting and putting the children second may cause hurt feelings and a breakdown of relationships that you’ve … [Read more...]
Estate Planning Considerations Entering the New Year (part 2 of 2)
When considering creating or updating your estate plan in 2019, you will want to make sure that you consider all of your planning needs. This will ensure that you have a proper plan that will protect you during all of life’s unexpected events. The information below will explain more about your needs. In this second installment about estate planning considerations, we address additional issues often overlooked in many estate plans. If you have any questions about the information below, or if … [Read more...]
A Role for Life Insurance in an Estate Plan
When creating your estate plan, you will not only have to decide how your assets will be distributed, you will also need to make sure that your loved ones are always protected by having enough assets including, perhaps, life insurance. We’ve outlined information below to help you better understand the importance of life insurance. If you have any questions, or if you’d like to make sure that you have enough life insurance coverage, contact a qualified and experienced estate planning … [Read more...]
My Daughter’s 24; Does She Need Life Insurance?
It’s wise and prudent to examine the need for life insurance, even if your daughter is only 24. If a tragedy such as death would strike, there are likely final arrangement expenses which average about $7,000, last bills, credit card bills, lease obligations, car payments, and utilities to be paid. In addition, if your daughter has a child or children, mortgage, or spouse, the need for life insurance is greatly increased. In general, life insurance is used to create an estate, pay last … [Read more...]
Insurance and Estate Planning
A complete estate plan involves a variety of tools and options, and no two plans are identical. For many people, insurance is an extremely important part of their plans. There are several different types of insurance you may want to incorporate into your own estate plan, but there are several that are commonly used by many people. Life Insurance There are two basic types of life insurance: term and whole. Term life insurance is something you buy every year. Its costs tend to get higher the … [Read more...]
Why Your Former Spouse May Still Receive Your Life Insurance Benefits
Believe it or not, your former spouse may still receive your life insurance benefits, instead of your current spouse, when you die. Although the idea that someone you divorced years ago might receive your life insurance benefits, instead of the person to whom you are currently married, seems rather nonsensical, the law does not always adhere to common sense. Why does this occur? When a couple gets divorced there are a great many thoughts and turbulent emotions swirling around in one’s head, as … [Read more...]
Probate Basics: Some Considerations
Question 1: What is Probate? Probate is legal process through which a deceased person’s property must proceed before a new legal owner can be identified. Probate is designed to evaluate what a deceased person owned, as well as what kind of debts the person had. The property the person owned is used to pay off the debts, and anything left over is distributed to his or her inheritors. Question 2: Does all a Person’s Property go Through Probate? No. Some property is specifically exempt from … [Read more...]
Do All Estates Have to Go Through Probate?
If you have recently suffered the loss of a family member or loved one, you may be concerned about the legal steps required to probate the decedent’s estate. Probate is the legal process in court by which a decedent’s estate assets are inventoried and valued, debts of the decedent are paid and assets eventually transferred to the beneficiaries or heirs of the estate. Whether or not an estate must go through probate depends on a number of factors. Wills, Trusts, and Estate matters are governed … [Read more...]
Life Insurance's Role in an Estate Plan
Life insurance can be a powerful estate planning tool. There are several roles it can play in easing the burden of your passing on your loved ones. While many consider life insurance to simply be an income replacement when a loved one passes, there are other ways it fits into an estate plan: 1. To pay expenses while an estate is in probate. Since life insurance pays benefits to a named beneficiary, it avoids probate, and therefore the funds can be accessed more quickly than property … [Read more...]
Life Insurance–So I Need It?
In America, we insure our homes, vehicles, businesses--some of us even insure our pets. Along with all these types of insurance, we are also all told that we simply cannot be caught “dead” without life insurance. Do you really need life insurance? Is it the best option for you? Only you can make that decision, but there are some things to consider when contemplating the purchase of life insurance. If you are part of a young family with no other means of support in the event of your death, life … [Read more...]
