Category: Business or Farm

Planning with Life Insurance

By David Edwards on Dec 21, 2010 in Asset Protection, Business or Farm, Divorce Risks, Estate Tax, For Your Business, For Your Kids, Kids' Inheritance, Marriage & Remarriage, Tax, Wills and Trusts

We often use life insurance as a tool in helping clients. Life insurance is important in many estate-planning situations, such as the following: A young family. To help raise the kids and get them through college if a parent dies young. Business owners. A buy-sell agreement between partners in a business is important. But the [...]

Your Bucket List for Estate Planning: Why a Trust Might Be Right for You

By David Edwards on Nov 09, 2010 in Aging Parents, Asset Protection, Business or Farm, Disability, Divorce Risks, Estate Tax, Family Farm, For Your Business, For Your Kids, Grandchildren, Kids' Inheritance, Lawsuits and Creditor Risks, Marriage & Remarriage, Nursing Home, Parents, Tax, Wills and Trusts

A recent movie with Morgan Freeman and Jack Nicholson inspired a lot of people to think about their bucket list – the things they would like to do before they die. While a trip around the world in a sailboat may seem a lot more exciting and glamorous than estate planning, thinking about what you [...]

Bills, Debts and Taxes: Will your debts die with you?

By David Edwards on Oct 13, 2010 in Business or Farm, Death of a Loved One, Estate Tax, For Your Business, Lawsuits and Creditor Risks, Wills and Trusts

So, who pays your debts when you’re gone? Your wife? Your kids? What happens when someone dies, leaving debts and not enough money to pay them? The Good News Here’s the good news: No one else is required to pay your debts, as long as they are not on the debt, too. Your wife, your [...]

Keeping the Family Farm in the Family

By David Edwards on Jun 01, 2010 in Business or Farm, Family Farm, For Your Kids, Kids' Inheritance, Parents

[originally appeared in the Prairie Farmer magazine - reprinted with author's permission] “We worked hard to pay for and build up the farm to what it’s worth today. We couldn’t have done it without the help of our son (or daughter). As we do our estate planning, how can we be fair to all of [...]

Saving the Family Farm

By David Edwards on Mar 11, 2010 in Asset Protection, Business or Farm, Family Farm

Family farms. Effectively planning to protect the family farm requires us to consider at least two types of planning. And the 2 types involve 2 different definitions of “save”. 1. Does it mean to transfer the farm and protect it from nursing home costs, estate taxes, or other risks that could cause the property to [...]