Legal

A power of attorney is one of the most important estate planning documents you can have. It allows a person you appoint to act in your place for financial or other purposes when and if you ever become incapacitated or if you can't act on your own behalf. ...

Many services have popped up that offer do-it-yourself will software or documents. These might work fine if you have little or no property, small savings or investments, and a traditional family tree, but the rest of the population should not use these programs. ...

A trust or plan that is not customized to your individual family, financial status or state of residence could jeopardize your child’s eligibility for public benefits, and you wouldn’t even know it. The laws are complex and vary from state to state. How reliable and trustworthy is the information you might find online? Would you risk your child’s eligibility just to save some money up front? ...

Want to know the best gift you can give your family? It's a will. August is Make-A-Will Month. Celebrate in style: Get your affairs in order. Your heirs will thank you. ...

Careful planning, whether in advance or in response to an unanticipated need for care, can help protect your estate while still meeting Medicaid's strict asset limits. Drill down into the details here. ...

If you own a device that contains digital content, you can pass that device on to your heirs, but there is no guarantee the content will remain. You can also give your heirs access to your passwords so they can access your account. Some estate planners are suggesting that people set up a trust to purchase online content. ...

Too many times, adult children struggle – not only with the grief of losing a parent – but also in putting together the financial puzzle their parents may have left for them. Unlike a puzzle that comes with the picture to solve, children often are left with pieces that don’t seem to fit together and are both frustrating and costly to manage. ...

 Attorneys often see great trust documents that don't do all that's intended because the clients' assets are still titled in the clients' names. You can avoid probate and make sure that the estate tax protections in your trust operate as planned through retitling assets in the name of the trust ...