Category: Kids’ Inheritance

What can Hollywood teach us about estate and trusts?

By David Edwards on Dec 06, 2011 in Asset Protection, Business or Farm, Churches and Ministries, Family Farm, For Your Business, For Your Kids, Grandchildren, Kids' Inheritance, Non-Profits, Parents, Wills and Trusts

My excitement about estate planning is typically only shared by other attorneys or advisors, but it seems that Hollywood is catching on to how interesting estate planning can really be. The Descendants This new movie, starring George Clooney, tells the story of a long-standing family land trust in Hawaii. It looks really interesting and [...]

Ask the Attorneys: Life Insurance (part 1)

By David Edwards on Aug 23, 2011 in Asset Protection, Kids' Inheritance, Parents

“Is estate planning the same as having life insurance?” — Julie H They’re not the same thing, but effective estate planning might include life insurance. Good estate planning uses certain legal strategies (wills, trusts, power of attorneys, etc.) coupled with the use of financial tools. These tools might include things like life insurance, long term [...]

Baseball, family legacies and estate planning

By David Edwards on Jul 25, 2011 in Grandchildren, Kids' Inheritance, Leave a Legacy, Parents

Baseball — it’s a family legacy. I just finished Doris Kearns Goodwin’s book Wait Till Next Year, and while it might seem like a good title for Cubs’ fans, in this memoir Goodwin recounts growing up in Brooklyn during the 50′s and rooting for the Dodgers. For me, my baseball legacy is as a Cardinal [...]

Consumer’s Guide to Medicaid 2011

By Joshua on Feb 28, 2011 in Aging Parents, Asset Protection, Disability, Kids' Inheritance, Nursing Home, Special Needs, Wills and Trusts

There haven’t been many changes since last year, but our Consumer’s Guide to Medicaid for 2011 is now out. Last year’s edition was one of our most popular downloads of 2010. If you, or anyone you know may be facing a nursing home, then this guide can help you better understand the basic issues at [...]

Estate Tax Update: What the Changes Mean for You

By David Edwards on Jan 24, 2011 in Asset Protection, Estate Tax, Kids' Inheritance, Tax, Wills and Trusts

It’s been a busy couple of weeks with estate tax changes — both state and federal. I spent last week at what some consider to be the Superbowl of estate planning. While at the Heckerling Institute on Estate Planning in Orlando, (not heckling as in what I do when Illinois plays Michigan, but Heckerling, as [...]

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 [...]