You have done no estate planning – no will, no trust, no financial power of attorney and no health care power of attorney. Congratulations! You are with the majority of Michiganders. Over half of our state’s adult residents have no …
Currently browsing Estate Planning
No Kids – No Problem
You may be married, or not. According to the Pew Research Center, marriage rates have been declining steadily over the last half-century. In 1960, 72% of adults age 18 or over were married. That rate was down to 50% by …
You Can Pick Who’s in Charge of Funeral
You Now Can Designate Who’s In Charge of Your Funeral Monday, June 27, 2016 is a new day for you and the other residents of the state of Michigan. Starting tomorrow, for the first time in our state’s history, you …
Get a Second Opinion with Annuities
You may have spent your hard-earned savings on one or more deferred or variable annuities. The likelihood is that they were sold to you as an “investment”. If you are like most annuity purchasers, what you were not told is …
Medical and Mental Health Care Decision Making For Your Young Adult Child
It is the graduation season and now time again for my annual column for young adults. If you have any adult high school or college aged children, do you know who can make their medical and mental health care decisions …
Top Six Estate Planning Questions
I regularly get questions about estate planning matters from individuals who usually start the question with “I’ve heard that…” or “I’ve been told that…” There never seems to be a shortage of people who want to give estate planning advice. …
I am a Life Insurance or Account Beneficiary and the Owner Died – What Do I Do Now?
Last week, we discussed what you should do if you were named a joint owner on an account or real estate, and your joint owner died. This week we are going to talk about named beneficiaries. Let’s say that Mom, …
My Joint Owner Died – What Do I Do Now?
Mom or Dad has passed away. You or one of your siblings was named as a joint owner on some of Mom or Dad’s accounts or real estate. Maybe Mom or Dad told the joint owner to share the account …
Be Aware of Spousal Pension Options
I am always looking for topics for my column. If you have any ideas for something you would like to read about, please contact me. This week’s topic came from a couple of attendees at our Putting Your House In …
Estate Planning Basics
We have covered a multitude of topics in this column. Every few years I like to cover estate planning basics to give you a refresher on essential estate planning documents. If you think that estate planning as just death planning, …