Last week we discussed powers of attorney and although they are generally lifetime documents, some powers can be effective after death. A properly drafted financial power of attorney is an essential tool in the estate planner’s toolbelt. However, …
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Powers of Attorney Good for Life and Beyond
In estate planning, there are documents that are useable during your lifetime, documents that are only useable after death, and documents that are useable both during your lifetime and after your death. And people get them confused all the …
Providing for the Not-So-Secret Life of Pets
It is estimated that 500,000 of the 4 million cats and dogs that are euthanized each year in the U.S., come to the shelters because they have outlived their owners or their owners’ ability to care for them. Oftentimes, these …
New Year’s Estate Plan Resolutions
It’s New Year’s Eve. Have you made your New Year’s resolutions for 2018? If you have, you are with the majority of respondents of a recent YouGuv online survey. The top four resolutions for 2018 were to eat better, exercise …
Plan While You Can
Would you agree that you have more options now while you are alive and well, than after you’re dead? Would you also agree that you have more options now when you are alive and well, than after you are mentally …
When Should I Give Up Control?
I am now in my tenth year of writing the weekly column Planning Matters for the Times Herald. If you include the Savvy magazine columns, I’ve had over 500 columns published. I am always looking for estate planning, elder law, …
Do-It-Yourself Beneficiary Designation Planning Unwise
You have named beneficiaries on everything you could because you thought it was the right thing to do. You have named beneficiaries on your bank accounts, investments, retirement accounts and life insurance. Your banker told you to do it. Your …
Who Needs Estate Planning?
You are age 18 or over. You are also with the majority of Michiganders and have done no estate planning. No will, no trust, no financial or health care powers of attorney, no nothing. If you became mentally incapacitated, do …
Will or Trust – Which is Best?
Last week, one of the questions we discussed that I and my partner Buzz Suuppi get all the time is: How much assets do I need for a trust? What we are really being asked is: Should my estate plan …
Choose the Right Person for the Job
You are doing your estate plan. You have to choose people for certain duties. You may be tempted to name your spouse or the kids in birth order because you think that this is the fair thing to do. But …