Family-owned and small businesses need to plan ahead for the owner’s retirement, death, or disability to ensure the business can move forward intact. This is typically a long-term strategy and ranges from simple to extremely complex depending on the individuals involved and the goals.
Most business owners are so busy running their businesses that they lose sight of the importance of having proper estate planning in place. Personal estate planning coupled with a well-thought out business succession plan is a necessity to prevent chaos from occurring in the event of the business owner’s death or incapacity.
The traditional death care industry, encompassing funeral homes, casket manufacturers, and other products and services related to death and burial, has seen profits decline over the last decade.
As parents age, they may need more and more assistance in managing their financial affairs. Adult children frequently step in to offer this assistance.
For many seniors who face moving to a new home late in life, they are forced to face the grief of giving up a home that they enjoyed for years, maybe even decades. This process can be very challenging for all involved.
Elder Law attorneys handle many types of issues such as estate planning, probate, drafting trust agreements, business succession planning, Medicaid and Medicare, and long-term care planning.
A trust is a document created by a grantor that holds assets and appoints a trustee to manage those assets for the benefit of the intended beneficiaries.
Most people tend to think of bringing in a mediator for divorce or contract disputes, but do not realize how beneficial it can be during the estate planning process. The potential for family conflict arises in many estate plans, especially large estates and those with family businesses.
For those who own Bitcoins and other digital currency, those assets are part of their estate after death. They will be distributed to the heirs according to the owner’s will, or via laws of intestate succession if the owner died without a will.
As Baby Boomers continue to age, their Gen X children and millennial grandchildren may expect to receive an inheritance. Counting on such an inheritance is not wise financial planning. More than half of those who expect to inherit do not.
