People often have questions about Estate Planning. This is the sixth in a series of articles addressing those questions. This sixth article addresses “why” to do Estate Planning. Read on to learn more. The Questions of Estate Planning, Part 6: Why … [Read more...]
The Questions of Estate Planning, Part 5: How
People often have questions about Estate Planning. This is the fifth in a series of articles addressing those questions. This fifth article addresses “how” to do Estate Planning. Read on to learn more. The Questions of Estate Planning, Part 5: How … [Read more...]
Why Your Safety Deposit Box May Not Be Safe
Having a comprehensive estate plan in place is one of the best things you can do for your loved ones and for yourself. The average plan incorporates a variety of estate planning strategies and documents. Once those documents are prepared, they need to be kept somewhere safe. A Fargo estate planning attorney at German Law Group explains why your safety deposit box may not be the best place for your estate planning documents. Estate Planning Documents Just as every person is unique, every estate … [Read more...]
Why Estate Planning Is Crucial for Unmarried Couples
Not all that long ago, an unmarried man and woman living together were considered to be living in sin and were often ostracized by society. Today, however, more and more couples are choosing to cohabitate prior to, or in lieu of, marriage. If you are one of those unmarried couples, a Minot estate planning attorney at German Law Group explains why estate planning is crucial. Is Marriage No Longer Desirable? In one of those ironic twists of fate, people who are old enough to remember when living … [Read more...]
Reasons an Estate Plan Could Be Challenged: Part 2 – Undue Influence
An Estate Plan is an essential part of your planning process. But there are ways an Estate Plan can be challenged as being invalid. This is the second part of a series of articles on ways an Estate Plan might be invalid and how to avoid these pitfalls. This article looks at “undue influence.” Reasons an Estate Plan Could Be Challenged: Part 2 – Undue Influence … [Read more...]
Reasons an Estate Plan Could Be Challenged: Part 1 – Formal Requirements
An Estate Plan is an essential part of your planning process. But there are ways an Estate Plan can be challenged as being invalid. This is part of a series of articles on ways an Estate Plan might be invalid and how to avoid these pitfalls. Reasons an Estate Plan Could Be Challenged: Part 1 – Formal Requirements … [Read more...]
Your Estate and Your Children – The Pressure to Gift Equally
For most people, a primary goal of estate planning is to create a roadmap for the distribution of their estate assets when they are gone. If you are at that point of your estate planning process, and you have adult children, you may be wrestling with some difficult decisions. Chief among those is whether or not to divide your estate assets equally among your children. The pressure is often great to do so; however, you have valid reasons to resist that pressure. A Grand Forks estate planning … [Read more...]
What Is Portability?
Working hard, saving regularly, and investing wisely will certainly ensure that you amass a moderate to large estate; however, if you fail to protect the assets that make up your estate your beneficiaries will ultimately lose out in the end. One of the most potentially devastating threats to your estate assets is the federal gift and estate tax. Careful planning can help you decrease, or even eliminate, your estate’s exposure to federal git and estate taxes. The Minot estate planning attorneys … [Read more...]
Make Your Own Plan
Planning is important. If you don’t plan, your assets go pursuant to the state’s default plan, which may be very different from what you want. If you plan, you can be sure your assets go exactly to whom you want and in a manner that can benefit them the most. Make Your Own Plan … [Read more...]
Planning for Special Needs Children
Planning is important when providing for any of your children. But planning is even more important for special needs children. Without proper planning, an inheritance can jeopardize a special needs child’s needs-based benefits, such as SSI or Medicaid. Read on to learn more about planning for special needs children. Planning for Special Needs Children … [Read more...]
