You Are Thinking about Estate Plan Maintenance All Wrong
Estate plan maintenance is a lot like automobile care. Basic maintenance, such as oil changes, is necessary to keep your car running smoothly. But you’ll also occasionally need to make specialized repairs, if the tires are bald, for instance, or the timing belt snaps. Your estate plan needs periodic oil changes, as it were, but it also needs new spark plugs or brakes every so often. In other words, estate plans need both basic maintenance and specialized repairs.
Estate Planning Strategies for LGBTQ Couples
The legalization of gay marriage in 2015 unlocked a myriad of estate planning and asset protection options for LGBTQ couples. But, since these benefits are quite new, same-sex couples may not be taking full advantage of the asset protection and tax mitigation strategies that are now available. Below are a few of the most important elements that have changed in the world of estate planning for LGBTQ couples since the Obergefell decision in 2015 and some steps you can take to protect your wealth and assets.
Estate Planning for Bitcoin and Crypto Assets
An increasing number of individuals are incorporating crypto into their asset portfolios or transferring existing assets into cryptocurrency. Because of how they’re bought, traded, and stored, cryptocurrencies pose unique concerns in the asset protection and estate planning arena. As cryptocurrency becomes a more common investment vehicle and constitutes ever-larger percentages of the value of estates, it’s important to remember that specific directions for the transfer and distribution of these digital assets need to be included in estate planning documents.
Legal Lexicon: What Does “Per Stirpes” Mean?
In every profession there are words and phrases that will be foreign to outsiders. This is especially true of the legal world. Some are terms of art with meanings that differ from the word’s use in everyday speech (e.g. “negligence” or “liable”). Others, though, are literally foreign. For hundreds of years Latin was the lingua franca of the legal system, and hundreds of Latin words and phrases are still in common use in the estate planning world. One such phrase is per stirpes, which occurs primarily in the context of inheritance. But what does per stirpes mean and why is it important?
Is Your Estate Plan Procrustean?
I want to teach you a new word today: Procrustean. Procrustean means “forcing conformity by arbitrary means.” In particular, a Procrustean bed is a concept used to describe any predetermined standard to which rigid adherence is forced. When it comes to your financial legacy, you definitely don’t want your estate plan to be Procrustean. Although you may be tempted to use online templates to create your estate planning documents, these templates will not and cannot provide the protections you need to keep your assets and wealth truly safe.
