Four Provisions People Forget to Include in Their Estate Plan Even if you've created an estate plan, are you sure you included everything you need to? There are certain provisions that people often forget to put in in a will or estate plan that can have a big impact on your family.1. Alternate BeneficiariesOne of the most important things your estate plan should include is at least one alternative beneficiary in case the named beneficiary does not outlive you or is unable to claim under the [...]

For better or for worse, our current culture is very car-dependant; in many places, cars are the only convenient link to the outside world. Unfortunately, as people age, driving can become more difficult and more dangerous. The elderly drive less, but have more crashes per mile than younger drivers. This is partially because elderly individuals are more likely to be affected by poor eyesight, chronic disease, and medications that might impair driving. States vary widely on how they treat older [...]

The phrase "life estate" often comes up in discussions of estate and Medicaid planning, but what exactly does it mean? A life estate is a form of joint ownership that allows one person to remain in a house until his or her death, when it passes to the other owner. Life estates can be used to avoid probate and to give a house to children without giving up the ability to live in it. They also can play an important role in Medicaid planning. In a life estate, two or more people [...]

Preventing a Will Contest Emotions can run high at the death of a family member. If a family member is unhappy with theamount they received (or didn't receive) under a Will, he or she may try to contest the Will. Willcontests can drag out for years, keeping all the heirs from getting what they are entitled to. It maybe impossible to prevent relatives from fighting over your Will entirely, but there are steps youcan take to try to minimize squabbles and ensure your intentions are carried [...]

A recent Executive Order calls for a review of the so-called “fiduciary rule,” which was intendedto prevent financial advisers from steering their clients to bad retirement investments byrequiring advisers to act in the best interests of their clients. The order delays the rule, which wasscheduled to go into effect in April 2017, and the rule may ultimately be repealed.Prompted by concern that many financial advisers have a sales incentive to recommend to theirclients bad retirement [...]