Today we’re going to talk about individual retirement accounts, also called IRAs and how they fit into estate planning for you. Before we get into everything, we need to explain a couple of definitions because this can get a little bit complicated and a little bit murky because some of the things sound the same. …
Life Estates vs Enhanced Life Estates
This post discusses the difference between a life estate and an enhanced life estate. These are essential estate planning and Medicaid planning tools, but enhanced life estates are available everywhere. What is a Life Estate? A life estate is created when you give your property to another person, but during your lifetime you retain the …
You Need a Will if you have Young Children
You need a will when you have young children and there are two main reasons why; to name a guardian for your children and for their financial protection. First is if both parents pass away, you need somebody to be the guardian of the kids, and the choices are; do you want to make the …
Difference between an irrevocable trust and a revocable trust
I question I often get is what the difference between an irrevocable trust and a revocable trust, also called a living trust or inter vivos trust. Before we start talking about these trusts, there’s three basic definitions I want to get out there. There’s the person that creates the trust; the person that manages the …
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What is a Power of Attorney
A question I sometimes get is, “What is a power of attorney?” A power of attorney is a document that allows somebody to act as your agent, in your place. Think of it as somebody basically taking a wooden stick with a picture of your face on it and putting it in front of somebody …
Three Documents Everyone Needs
There are three documents that are the foundation of your estate plan. The three are your will, your power of attorney, and your healthcare power of attorney, sometimes called an advance directive, healthcare proxy. There are a few different names for essentially the same document. Why are these the three foundational documents of your estate …
What is Estate Planning
A question I often get is, “What is estate planning?” Well turn the question right around, simply it’s planning your estate, but what is your estate? Your estate is all the property you have when you die that’s in your name alone. If you had a bank account with your wife or husband, that wouldn’t …