(c) Can Stock Photo One of the common statements I hear from clients is this: “I just need a simple will”. I hear it all the time. According to legal blogger, Katya Sverdlow, ninety percent (90%) of the people who say, “I just need a simple will,” are wrong. I am not...
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Estate Planning
How Seniors Can Manage Financial Anxiety
Photo Credit: Burst Financial anxiety is a common issue for seniors. Many older adults live on fixed incomes and have more expenses than they can easily cover. Moreover, it’s relatively common for people after retirement be uncertain about their financial...
What is the Difference Between a Trust and a Will?
One of the most common questions, and an area of much misunderstanding, involves the difference between a Trust and a Will. I have not addressed the subject in some time, so doing so again seems appropriate. I will begin with an explanation of Wills since people seem...
How Well Can You Answer Some Common Estate Planning Questions?
(c) Can Stock Photo The Internet has opened up the world for do-it-yourselfers, including the option do your own estate planning. People have saved a tremendous amount of money by “Googling it” and finding how-to videos and instructions on all kinds of things. From...
How to Handle Gifts or Loans to Children in a Will or Trust
(c) Can Stock Photo Most people help their children when their children need help, even when they are adults. Sometimes that means making “loans” to them. You should think about how to handle gifts or loans to children in a Will or Trust. Your family will thank you...
The New Illinois Trust Code – Accounting
(c) Can Stock Photo Some significant changes affecting trusts have come to Illinois with the New Year. Effective January 1, 2020, the Illinois Trust Code replaced the Illinois Trusts and Trustees Act. One of the biggest areas of change involves the duty of a trustee...
The Dangerous Rocks under the Waters of Joint Bank Accounts
(c) Can Stock Photo I’ve seen it time and time again. A client comes in who has added a son, or a daughter, or a grandchild, or a niece or nephew, or someone else to the client’s bank account… or that is the client’s plan. It seems like a good idea. It gives another...
Getting the Pieces of Your Estate Planning in Place
(c) Can Stock Photo Fear of Estate Planning, as in doing a Will or Trust (or both) is a common malady. Everyone knows they should do something, but few people know exactly what that something is they should be doing. Fear of the unknown often keeps people from doing...
Holiday Humbug? Bah…Death is an Old, Old Story
(c) Can Stock Photo If you are getting together with your family members this holiday season it may not seem like a great time to talk about dying, but actually it is! Hollywood has combined death and holidays for years. Well, truth be told, Dickens started it. A...
Think About Long-Term Care Insurance
(c) Can Stock Photo In 2003, experts estimate that an estimated 37 million individuals will need some form of long-term care by 2050.[1] According to the AARP, approximately 65% of seniors will need some form of long-term care during their lives;[2] of those, 35% will...