1. Estate Planning Must-Haves For Single Parents

    If you are a single parent, life for you right now probably couldn’t get any busier. You are likely being pulled between work, school activities, and home - and the inevitable emergencies that fill the lives of single parents everywhere.   Being a single parent is a huge responsibility, even if you do share time with a parenting partner, and especially so if you don’t…Read More

  2.  Legendary Rapper DMX Dies With No Will, Millions in Debt, and 15 Children—Part 1

    Legendary hip hop artist DMX—born Earl Simmons—passed away on April 9 at age 50 after suffering a massive heart attack a week earlier at his home in White Plains, New York. The heart attack was reportedly triggered by a cocaine overdose on April 2, which left the rapper hospitalized in a coma. After a week of lingering in a vegetative state, his family made the decisio…Read More

  3. 7 Reasons to Consider a Trust for Your Family

    Do you consider trusts to be instruments of the wealthy?  While it is true that many Americans of means have trusts to protect and pass their wealth, there are a number of reasons why trusts can also be useful for middle-class families. Here are 7 of them: Control distribution of assets. You wouldn’t hand over your car keys to a child who has had no proper preparation f…Read More

  4. How to Protect Elderly Parents from Financial Abuse

    How to Protect Elderly Parents From Financial Abuse According to a recent study by the Investor Protection Trust and Investor Protection Institute, the top three ways that the elderly could be financially exploited are: Theft of funds or property by family members Theft of funds or property by caregivers Financial scams by strangers It is estimated that one in nine seniors…Read More

  5. 4 Tips For Talking About Estate Planning With Your Family Over the Holidays

    With COVID-19 still raging, your 2020 holiday season may not feature the big family get-togethers of years past, but you’ll still likely be visiting with loved ones in some fashion, whether via video chat or in smaller groups. Though the holidays are always a good time to bring up estate planning, given the ongoing pandemic, talking about these issues is particularly urg…Read More

  6. 3 Unique Ways to Handle the Guilt Inherent to Being a Parent

    Currently, the burden on you as a parent, is to both carry on with your work and manage your child’s full-time care and education. Two full-time jobs that you’re trying to do by yourself, likely without teachers or care providers to help you. Here are 3 unique ways to handle the guilt inherent to being a parent. If you are like most parents, you were probably strugglin…Read More

  7. Protecting Your Parents From Undue Influence During Covid and Beyond

    In a previous article, we shared steps to understanding your parents’ estate planning and the nature of their assets, as well as how to ensure you’re not left with a mess when something happens to them. Today, we want to focus on one of the major risks of not being “in the know” when it comes to your parents’ estate planning matters: the undue influence of bad ac…Read More

  8. Important Questions to be Asking Your Parents and Why

    Are You Clear About How Your Parents Estate Plan Will Impact You?   Do your parents have an estate plan? Is it up to date? These are important questions to be asking your parents. No matter how rich or poor you or your parents are, especially in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, you need to be asking these and several other important questions. When your parents become i…Read More

  9. Protecting Our Parents

    How To Talk To Your Parents and Get Them To Stay Home There’s no doubt that your parents have survived frightening world events, whether that was World War II, the war in Vietnam, nuclear threat, illness, poverty, civil unrest, or all of the above. However, the use of the word “unprecedented” regarding what’s happening now is not an exaggeration. And they may not u…Read More

  10. Money and Kids

    Money Talk: How Much Will You Share With Your Kids (and When)? In many families, money still is not a typical dinner table discussion, but we think it should be. Surprisingly, this is especially true when it comes to affluent parents. And, we hope to change it because one of the most important things you can do is talk to your kids (and your parents) about money. According…Read More

  11. When To Start Planning

    Is Your Family “Too Young” to Need an Estate Plan? Young families face different estate planning needs and challenges than those who have had a long life behind them. While established families may be concerned about what will happen to their family when they pass on, young, growing families can be more focused on what is happening to their family in the present. And y…Read More

  12. Estate Planning Essentials for Parents

    A comprehensive estate plan can protect the things that matter most. For many, this means their property and their family. Including provisions for the care of your children in your estate plan is essential for peace of mind. But many parents struggle with including such provisions as naming a legal guardian for their child in their plan. Indeed, even the fictional parents…Read More