Category: How To Start Estate Planning

Nearly half of working-age Americans assume that they will receive an inheritance that will support them later in life, according to a survey by the financial services company HSBC.

Vanguard has sent me a beneficiary designation verification letter. For the primary beneficiary, it says it will be the person I am married to at the time of my death. For the secondary beneficiary, it says, my descendants “per stirpes.” I have one child. Should the beneficiary designation include his name?

Per stirpes in a will means that a deceased’s child’s share will pass to the deceased’s child’s children in equal shares, if any.

Just as you have trust in a relationship, trusting your document and those with responsibilities in the trust are crucial to obtaining your objectives.

While the tasks of dealing with an estate after someone passes may be simple administration, the work associated with it is often quite complicated.

What are the advantages of putting assets into a trust?

Using a lawyer is always a better choice than going through the process independently.

Especially with the average U.S. household having $7,027 in revolving credit card debt and Americans owing a total of $416.1 billion in credit card debt, according to a recent Nerdwallet study, some Americans will have credit card debt for the rest of their lives. However, what happens to credit card debt when you die?

A will is a legal document that allows you to decide what happens with your estate after you passed away. Unfortunately, not all people consider creating one because they think that it’s complicated and just an extra expense.

I’m a beneficiary to my brother’s estate in New Jersey. My younger brother, the executor, is also a real estate broker. When he sold two properties from the estate, he paid himself real estate commissions totaling about $75,000. He never accounted for the rents on the real estate for the two years he managed the properties. Can he do this, and do I have any recourse?