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As our struggling economy tries to sputter back to life, we still see its impact on our clients’ families. The stress of the real estate market crash and the wreckage of the lingering recession has left deep financial scars. There is still a desire by better off...
You may have heard the terms "special" needs trust and "supplemental" needs trust and wondered what the difference is. The short answer is that there's no difference. Here's the long answer. When the field of special needs planning began some two decades ago, trusts...
The classic 80s sitcom The Cosby Show featured a family led by Cliff Huxtable, a doctor, and Claire Huxtable, a lawyer. So we have two professionals, with presumably high incomes. And we have five good, if not entirely perfect, children – Sondra, Denise, Theo,...
Most memorably known as mob boss Tony Soprano on the HBO series The Sopranos, actor James Gandolfini died in June at age 51. He left behind an estate worth an estimated $70 million. But to many advisors, the way he divided his estate would have gotten the fictional...
Not all disabilities are necessarily permanent. One question that typically comes up when an attorney is drafting a special needs trust for a beneficiary whose disability may end at some point is whether the attorney can write a clause into the special needs trust...
In the 1960s, they were the face of the future. In the 2030s, they’ll be the face of the largest senior population in U.S. history. Born roughly between 1946 and 1964, they’re the Baby Boomers. These days, millions of them are caring for an aging parent, whether...
The Bradys are a great example of the kind of planning needed for a blended family. Mike and Carol are in their second marriage, and each have children from their first (Greg, Marcia, Peter, Jan, Bobby, and Cindy). With blended families, the estate plan must address...
Simply defined, a trust is an agreement between two people -- a grantor who donates funds to the trust and a trustee who manages those funds according to the grantor's wishes, which are laid out in a trust document. The funds in the trust are typically used to assist...
Families on television can also offer lessons about how to avoid problems through planning. Let's next look to the classic American family, the Cleavers. We all know the cast of characters – Ward, June, Wally, The Beav. Ward and June are in their first (and likely...
Another Disney movie, The Aristocats, also involves poor estate planning. This time, it’s Edgar Balthazar, the butler, who is the villain. Madame Adelaide Bonfamille, a wealthy elderly woman, has no living relatives. She adores her cat Duchess and the little kittens....
