When creating wills and trusts involving children or grandchildren, parents are faced with tough decisions about how to leave their assets to their children. While each person needs to consider their own situation and unique children, there are a few general issues that everyone should consider. Choosing a guardian for your children. It’s hard to imagine someone else raising your precious baby, but if something were to happen to you and your partner, you’d want to be sure you

Choosing a Guardian For Your Children It’s hard to imagine someone else raising your precious baby, but if something were to happen to you and your partner, you’d want to be sure your little one was in the very best hands. That’s why parents should pick a legal guardian — the person who’d raise their child if both parents die before the child turns 18. Don’t feel you’re up to the task? Failing to pick a guardian means the courts will choose one for you — and it may not be the

Would a friend or relative take them? Are you sure? If your pets feel like family members, as they do for so many of us, it makes sense to include instructions for their care in your estate plan. The resources you have to make these plans may depend on how much time and money you’re willing to spend and the method through which you outline the care of your animal. When it comes to estate planning, you may include your pet in your will or be able to set up a legal pet trust.

Blended families have become very common and they require special estate planning. Without a Will, the law of intestate succession will result in the distribution of your assets in ways that you probably would NOT want. Attorney Jennifer Bamonte, who has overseen the preparation of 30,000+ wills in the last 20 years, has important information for you. #elderla #estateplann #Wills

Adding as child or sibling to a bank account seems like a simple thing. Did you know that you’re basically giving your money to that person? Exposing the account to that person’s creditors? There are a lot of hidden risks that the bank won’t warn you about. Attorney Jennifer Bamonte who heads our estate planning department, tells you to think twice before creating a joint account. #elder #estateplan #Wills

A power of attorney is a necessary part of protecting your family and your hard earned assets. Attorney Jennifer Bamonte, the head of our estate planning department, tells you why. #estateplanning #power #Wills

Yes, You Need a Will Join our managing Partner, Mike Fiffik, for this informative webinar and learn what a Will does, find out what happens without a Will in five very common life situations and the process of getting your Will done from request to completion. #estateplanning #livingwill #powerofattorney #Wills

Some Do’s and Don’ts For Beneficiary Forms It takes a good deal of time and effort to prepare thorough wills and trusts. At the same time, many of us approach beneficiary designations with barely a thought. Our choices are often made in a blur of other paperwork or all too quickly when filling out paperwork for a new job. And because what we put on the beneficiary designations aren’t something that appears on monthly statements, we may not revisit them for years. Meanwhile, a

Naming Your Estate as Beneficiary It is almost never a good idea to name your estate as a beneficiary of life insurance policy, investment account or qualified plan (for example an IRA, 401(k), qualified annuity).  There are several reasons to avoid doing this. Naming your estate as beneficiary will cause those assets to be subject to the Probate process.  Your assets that pass through Probate are subject to claims of creditors.  You may think that you do not have many credit

Failure to Understand How Your Assets Will Pass Upon Your Death Many people think that their Wills control how and to whom their assets pass upon their death.  The reality these days is that many assets pass outside the scope of a Will. For example, assets titled jointly with another person often pass to the surviving joint asset holder.  An example is a deed to a house titled to a mother and son with right of survivorship.    If the mother’s Will divides her estate equally b