Monthly Archives: January 2024
Reconciling With an Estranged Family Member Is a Reason to Update Your Estate Plan
Money can poison relationships between relatives as much as it can poison relationships between friends. In some ways, the less you tell your family about the contents of your will, the better. Before you designate a family member as personal representative of your estate, make sure that he or she is willing to take… Read More »
Bankruptcy and Your Estate Plan
Everyone has the right to file for bankruptcy, and everyone who is old enough to know the word “bankruptcy” needs an estate plan. Therefore, if you are looking for a reason to procrastinate getting started on your estate plan, bankruptcy will not fly. Successful estate planning does not require you to be rich, but… Read More »
Your Estate Plan Should Be Realistic About Your Debts
Many young and middle-aged people aspire to be debt-free someday, and they can find no shortage of online content offering motivation and advice, some of it more practical than the rest, about how to pay off one’s debts. When you are in your 40s, enough of your future is so far away as to… Read More »
How to Collect Debts Owed to an Estate
Conventional wisdom says that the most stressful and worrisome part of being the personal representative of the estate of a deceased person is paying the estate’s debts. Disputes over the validity of a decedent’s will are plenty stressful, but they are also relatively rare. Even if your relationship with your family is not always… Read More »
What to Leave to Your Family Instead of Stuff
As the saying goes, you don’t know what you had until it’s gone. Think about the things you wish you could ask your grandparents if they were still here, or the things you are relieved that you still have. Do you still have family photographs of ancestors that no one in your generation is… Read More »