When Apple and Facebook made news recently for paying the expenses of their female employees to freeze their eggs, chances are you didn’t think it would have any effect on your estate plan. But if you have a daughter or a granddaughter, you may be mistaken. Modern medicine is definitely a game-changer in the estate planning […]

No one — not Florida investigators, court officials, the Wisconsin Department of Corrections or the FBI — ever notified the surviving relatives of Cydzik’s victim in the Brookfield fatal robbery. Only this year — by chance and Facebook postings — did they finally discover whatever became of Cydzik. Now, they’re looking for some belated closure […]

Legion of Christ is a Catholic holy order whose founder was found to have molested seminarians and fathered children. A wealthy Rhode Island woman left her entire $60 million estate to the order. Now, the Rhode Island Supreme Court will decide if that woman’s niece can sue the order. While it is not unusual for […]

People often fight over trusts for a wide variety of reasons. One of the most frequent conflicts over trusts occurs when the trustee and the beneficiaries do not see eye to eye. The person who creates a trust is always the beneficiary of the trust, especially after he or she dies. Yet, it is usually […]

Much of the talk about estate planning is often centered around married couples with children. This leads some single people to think that estate plans are not necessary for them. However, estate planning can be even more important for singles than married people. If a married person dies without an estate plan, by law most […]

People in their 20s often do not think that they need to worry about estate planning. They plan to live much longer, so they believe there will be time to get an estate plan later. However, you never know when tragedy can strike, so it is important that 20-somethings get estate plans. Younger adults normally […]

Important lessons about estate planning can often reach the general public through issues over celebrities’ estates. 2014 has been a busy year for such lessons. Americans are fascinated by the lives and deaths of celebrities. When a celebrity passes away, the public wants to know how his or her estate will be distributed. Oftentimes the […]

The IRS is throwing a lifeline to taxpayers who missed an important deadline for estate tax purposes. Have you heard of spousal portability? One of the newer and better provisions in tax law is that you can take advantage of any portion of the estate tax exemption that a deceased spouse did not use. This […]

The rules about purchasing a plan and using the money can be challenging to understand, and there are numerous points of confusion about how 529 plans work. Here are some of the most common misconceptions. 529 plans are an important part of many modern estate plans as they provide the necessary education funds when they are […]

When a current trustee is unable to serve, the vacancy is filled by a successor trustee. What happens if a trustee is no longer able to carry out their trust responsibilities? After the initial trustee passes away, or becomes incapacitated, someone else should be designated as the successor trustee. However, the successor trustee often does […]