You fall and break your hip. Or you have a stroke. Or you have a heart attack. Or you or your spouse end up in a nursing home. What are you gonna do? What are your loved ones gonna do? …
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Planning for Singles with No Kids
You may be single. If you are, you are part of a growing crowd, According to the Pew Research Center, half of the adults in the U.S. are single, up from only 28% in 1960. The percentage of adults who …
So You Have Been Asked to Be a Guardian
Last year, my brother and his wife asked me and my wife Emily that if something happened to them, could we be guardians of their minor children. Our children are grown, out of the house and self-supporting. My brother and …
Michigan’s New Asset Protection Trust
Trusts have always been great estate planning tools. You can get all kinds of protections for your beneficiaries after you are gone, such as protection from creditors, divorces or remarriages. Although your beneficiaries could have access to the assets of …
Protecting Your Assets From Your Spouse
A couple weeks ago, we discussed how to leave an inheritance to your spouse. But what if you do not want to leave anything to your spouse after you are gone. It could be the second marriage for both of …
2016 Law Changes May Trigger Estate Plan Updates
2016 was a busy year for the folks in Lansing. They passed all kinds of laws from drinking water protection to child protection, from electronic hunting and fishing licenses to traffic control. Be prepared for much more to come in …
Options for Leaving an Inheritance to a Spouse
Do you plan on leaving anything to your spouse after you are gone? If you do, you have lots of options. There are many ways to leave an inheritance to your spouse. Most married couples, especially long-term married couples, have …
Have Medical Directives Available When You Need Them
You have done your estate plan, including your medical directives. Of all your legal documents your medical directives are the only ones that you may need access to quickly in an emergency. It has been reported in the Journal of …
Trusts as IRA Beneficiaries
There seems to be a lot of misconceptions in the financial advisor community about naming trusts as beneficiaries of retirement accounts such as IRAs, 401(k)s, 403(b)s and 457(b)s. Even though the IRS issued final regulations regarding retirement account minimum distribution …
Plan Today to Make a Difference Tomorrow
It is the Thanksgiving season. It is time to be thankful for what we have. It is real easy to look at ourselves and our lives and wish things could be better. But look at the world around us. There …