Co-Signing Liability
On occasion, you or someone you know might be asked to co-sign a financial obligation for the purchase of a car or a house or the lease of an apartment…
Selling the Family Business to Children
Parents that have built a successful business and have raised capable children might find the proposition of selling the family business to the children compelling. As with so many decisions…
beautiful young family hand in hand walking in park
How Do Blended Families Structure Their Wills?
When people come together and vow to spend the rest of their lives together in wedded bliss, they sometimes bring to the relationship a child or children from a previous…
Remove Beneficiary Designations on Non-Retirement Accounts
Non-retirement investment accounts are often set up with wealth management firms. When the account is set up, there is an option to put a beneficiary designation on the account and…
Fractional Ownership of Family Property
In most families, the parents dream of leaving a legacy to their children. Of course, the parents want to create a legacy in terms of intrinsic family values and ethics…
The Multi-Pronged Approach to Paying for Your Child’s Education
As higher education costs continue to rise, it’s important to consider how best to fund your child’s or grandchild’s education. I propose a multi-pronged approach to utilize tax-advantaged 529 plans,…
Spousal Trust for Protection for Your Spouse (or From Your Spouse)
A trust set up for the benefit of your spouse can provide powerful protection for your spouse while at the same time protect your vision for the ultimate distribution of…
Charitable Lead Trust
What is a charitable giving technique that doubles as a wealth transfer technique to avoid estate taxes and at the same time works especially well in a low-interest rate environment…
Family Car Doctrine of Liability
From time to time, it is important to take stock of our own personal liability exposure and find ways to mitigate that liability. Liability exposure can creep into our lives…
The Prototypical Will
Sometimes it’s hard to see the forest through the trees. This is as true for sophisticated estate planning as it is for anything else. It’s worthwhile then to step back…
