Unfortunately, a significant percentage of people fail to have any sort of estate planning in place, forcing their families and beneficiaries to navigate the complexities of probate court in order to acquire the deceased person’s property. Probate is a long and costly process, but can often be entirely avoided through proper estate planning and trust
Today many people are using revocable living trusts as the foundation for their estate plans. When properly prepared, a living trust will avoid the public, costly, and time-consuming court process of conservatorship (due to incapacity) or probate (after death). Still, many people make a big mistake that sends their assets and loved ones right into
Imagine that a family member has just passed away and you know they have important information stored on the internet. It could be in the cloud, in their email, or on a social media account. How do you access this information? The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (“SJC”) recently decided the case Ajemian v. Yahoo!, Inc.,
Although it is still a widely used term, Executor/Executrix is the former name of the position that is now called Personal Representative in Massachusetts. When creating a Last Will a Testament, the Testator/Testatrix, or person creating the Will, must choose one or two trusted people to make sure that their wishes will be carried out.
Everyone over the age of eighteen should have an estate plan, regardless of your net worth. An estate plan consists of documents that control decisions over your person or your affairs if you cannot make those decisions for yourself, or if you pass away. It includes not only the documents that everyone thinks about such
As parents we are used to taking care of our children’s medical and financial needs, this does not usually end when our children go off to college or ventures off into the world on their own. However what most parents do not realize, once their child turns eighteen, they are not legally entitled to make
Creating an estate plan and planning for your legal future can seem like an overwhelming task. It forces you to think about your own mortality, and that of loved ones, among many other unpleasant topics. What many people do not realize is that a lack of planning can be even worse for you and your
An estate plan is not a Will, although a Will is certainly part of a good estate plan. In a good estate plan, the Will may be the least important document. If a Will is not an estate plan, then what is? A good estate plan consists of at least three documents: a Will, a
Audio Interview with Elizabeth Caruso on TheDownsizingGuy.com about Health Care Proxy, Power of Attorney, Wills and other Estate Planning Topics: Audio Interview with Elizabeth Caruso For the full transcribed interview please click here: http://thedownsizingguy.com/the-dangers-of-not-having-your-end-of-life-paperwork-in-place/#prettyPhoto
Susan and John have been happily married for 51 years. They raised two kids and enjoyed spending time with their grandchildren. They were worried about their estate plan because Susan had recently been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease and they did not want the costs of her anticipated care to bankrupt them. In 2006, Susan and