Besides deciding what will happen to your estate when you pass on, one of the most important decisions you need to make when creating your estate is the choice of a trustee. Your choice of a trustee can mean the difference between efficient and professional handling...
Low-value assets should still be in an estate plan
People who are doing their estate planning often think about their high-value assets first. They decide who's going to get the house. They divide the contents of their bank account. They consider what to do with their investments or their life insurance. It is true...
3 ways your estate plan can protect your children
A surprising number of people think that it is safe and reasonable to wait to create an estate plan until they are about ready to retire. The obvious issue with this approach is that it leaves a person with little protection during their working life. It can also...
Do you need a disinheritance clause?
If you're doing your estate planning, there are a lot of different tools that you can use. It all depends on what your goals are. For some parents, the goal is to disinherit a specific child, perhaps one that they had a falling-out with or someone that they don't...
Colorado’s Medicaid program wants you to pay it back
When people can't pay for their own medical care, Medicaid is there to protect them. Unlike Medicare, which is automatically available for those over retirement age, Medicaid is a needs-based program. Individuals have to show that their income is low enough to...
3 common pitfalls that can hurt your estate planning process
Most people work hard their entire life to create wealth. It is only natural that they care about what will happen to their assets when they pass on. For many, their assets must end up in the hands of the people they care about or the causes they believe in. An...
How can you ask a parent about their estate plan?
As a newly-married millennial, you just had your second child and decided it was high time to make an estate plan. You should have done it before, when that first child was born, but you put it off -- as so many people do. In any case, as you create your plan, you...
Estate planning in your 20s is more important than you think
When you think about estate planning, you may imagine older people, maybe in their 50s or 60s, looking at how they’re going to pass on their assets when they die. You might think about people with large investments or those who have multiple homes. The truth is that...
Proactive steps in planning your estate
“There is no time like the present” is an oft-used phrase that applies to estate planning. Starting the process of drafting a will or establishing a trust is not exclusive to the older generation. The sooner you start, the more peace of mind you will have for taking...
Miller trusts and Medicaid planning
A comprehensive approach to estate planning often includes Medicaid planning. When planning for a time when one needs long-term health care, Medicaid planning can help pave the road to coverage. However, what happens if a person is disqualified because their income is...
