What Is Estate Planning, What Does It Involve, and How Will It Help You?
What Is an Estate Plan? Do I Need One and When? Estate planning is the process of designating who will receive your assets if you pass away. It is often used to eliminate the need for probate and minimize taxes. An estate plan can also determine who will make financial and health care decisions for you if you become unable to do so yourself. Many people believe estate planning is only for the wealthy, but [...]
Special Needs Trust: What Is It and What Are the Benefits?
What is a special needs trust? In order to understand special needs trusts, we need to first understand what trusts are. We have written about trusts and other estate planning tools before. In short, a trust is a legal instrument, which allows the trust creator or grantor to place funds and assets to be managed and distributed by a trustee (a person or entity) for the benefit of a beneficiary. A Special Needs Trust, or a [...]
Which Trust Will Meet Your Needs?
Trusts are some of the most common tools used in estate planning, financial and retirement planning, and inheritance planning. As such, when choosing an appropriate trust for yourself or your clients, it is extremely important to understand the differences between the various types of trusts available. Most of these are created for specific needs such as caring for a disabled person, contributing to charities or philanthropic organizations, or providing for care of beloved pets. In [...]