Month: November 2010

Unlike trusts, personal wills are subject to probate upon the creator's passing. While probate is often spoken of in a negative sense, there are some benefits to it. Plus, with a comprehensive and detailed will, probate becomes a less frightening proposition - one...

Over the last three posts, we've discussed the benefits of both living trusts and wills when it comes to estate planning. When it comes to picking one or the other, you really need to think about your needs. What are your assets?Do you have income-generating assets?...

In her article, Price Mueller notes that living trusts are "sometimes touted as an absolute essential." As always, this is more or less true depending on your assets, your goals and how you hope to pass on parts of your estate. Still, there are a great number of...

On Monday, we discussed the importance of addressing estate planning before the year is up. Whether or not you can make the 2010 deadline, you should still make plans to sit down with an estate-planning attorney early in 2011 to look at your assets and...

November is here. In fact, November is half gone. In a week or so, we'll be looking at Thanksgiving festivities. Less than a month after that, we'll be cleaning the house for Christmas guests. With 2010 quickly approaching its close, it's time to ask yourself about...

Last week, we began a series of posts examining the question of estate planning (courtesy of an excellent article by Steven Merkel for Investopedia). On Saturday, we finished with the creation of a will.While this step may seem like the last one, there are actually a...

Yesterday, we began to discuss a number of essential steps for anyone considering the creation of an estate plan. Today we're going to continue that train of thought, drawing from an excellent article by Steven Merkel, published on SFGate.com.You can find yesterday's...

On Tuesday, the San Francisco Chronicle ran a great article by Steven Merkel (from Investopedia) highlighting 16 important steps to take when planning your estate. Over the next three posts, we are going to highlight the steps Merkel recommends, discussing as...

The number of unmarried couples living together rose by 7.5 million, or 13 percent, over the past year. These numbers, collected by the U.S. Census Bureau, are indicative of a shift in both relationships and social norms. More and more often, couples are choosing to...