One of the biggest wealth transfers our nation has ever seen is about to take place. Over the next 25 years, as much as $68 trillion of wealth will be passed to succeeding generations.
Adding an adult child to your house deed, or giving them the home outright, might seem like a smart thing to do. It usually isn’t.
Probate is a process to transfer the assets after someone dies. For example, when a homeowner passes, probate allows for the home to be sold or transferred, if necessary, even though the owner is no longer alive to sign a deed.
Although there is often a progression of complexity in estate planning, this progression generally follows stages in life rather than specific ages.
Having an estate plan can ensure that fiduciaries are identified to oversee and distribute your assets in the way you would have wanted. As a business owner, your ownership assets in your estate may require a more sophisticated level of planning.
Some marriages end in noise and pain. Other marriages drift away quietly with the signing of documents and only a hint of acrimony.
Sometimes beneficiaries end up not receiving their assets. Beneficiaries often lose out because the estate planning wasn’t done properly, but sometimes another family member contests the decedent’s will.
You might not be able to spend all the money in your 401(k) plan before you die. If that happens, your retirement savings will pass to the person you name as the beneficiary of the account. The information on your 401(k) beneficiary form typically supersedes what is written in your will. Therefore, it is important to keep this form up to date for all your retirement and investment accounts.
It can be hard to move through your daily life after someone you love dies. It may be even harder to embark on the complex tasks required to put their financial affairs in order. However, you can’t afford to put that off.
Losing a loved one isn’t just an emotional burden—it also carries an administrative load. There are flower arrangements to pick, eulogies to write and a stream of paperwork to sort through.
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