Digital Planning Podcast: Funerals360
There may come a time in your life when you are in need of a fiduciary. A fiduciary relationship is deemed to exist when one party is bound to act for the benefit of another party. You may have the opportunity to choose your...more
Daughter with Power of Attorney Had Burden to Show No Undue Influence over Father - Coscia v. Sweezey, 2021 WL 4765696 (Mass App. Ct. October 13, 2021) - Does holding a power of attorney from a parent in declining...more
Estate plans are supposed to be living documents that evolve over time. Generally, you should review your plan every 5 years to stay current, or whenever you or your beneficiaries have a major life event such as marriage, the...more
The coronavirus (COVID-19) has impacted the lives of millions across the globe, causing the loss of loved ones and livelihoods and heightening concerns for health and personal and financial safety. In these uncertain times,...more
If you’re like most people, there is a laundry list of things you’d rather do than think about your estate plan. While it can be a challenging area to discuss, your estate plan is essential to ensure you and your family are...more
It’s important to name executors and trustees who can provide the necessary expertise in handling assets and duties. This article details the duties of an executor and a trustee. A sidebar explains the need to name successors...more
A fiduciary is a fancy legal term for the person who will take care of your property for you if you are unable to do it yourself, such as the executor of an estate, the trustee of a trust, or an attorney-in-fact under a power...more
The Probate & Fiduciary Litigation Newsletter compiles recent Trust & Estate cases. Our lawyers are at the forefront of this area of the law, shaping how it is handled in the Probate and Family Court. ...more
A morbid topic? Of course! But for our older clients and their adult children in the sandwich generation (young children of their own and aging parents) having the discussion can be extremely beneficial to both the elder and...more
I. Introduction Historically, Texas courts could not resort to extrinsic evidence to construe an unambiguous will. San Antonio Area Foundation v. Lang, 35 S.W.3d 636 (Tex. 2000)....more
The death of a loved one or close friend is a traumatic experience. In addition to the emotional anguish, those who are charged with dealing with the decedent’s personal and financial affairs following death are often left...more
You just had a meeting with your estate planner, and are certain that an excellent estate plan was proposed. Something about a will, a trust (or was it two trusts?), and lots of discussion about who should be executor (was...more
While financial elder abuse is a serious problem in California, not just anyone can sue to protect an abused elder. This is especially true if the elder does not want to bring suit in the first place. On April 19, 2017, the...more
As anyone working in the estate area knows, the task of the personal representative is often onerous. But how much is it worth? The Court discussed how to set compensation for personal representatives in Berry (Re), 2017 ABQB...more
The Florida Fiduciary Access to Digital Assets Act (the “Act”) took effect as of July 1, 2016. The digital world is growing at an exponential rate. The Act provides much needed guidance for digital asset owners of how they...more
Several recent decisions serve as a good reminder that it is not only the Probate and Family Court that addresses important T&E issues in Massachusetts. In the consolidated matters of Hanna et al. v. Williams et al.,...more
February Interest Rates for GRATs, Sales to Defective Grantor Trusts, Intra-Family Loans and Split Interest Charitable Trusts - The February § 7520 rate for use with estate planning techniques such as CRTs, CLTs, QPRTs...more