Next Generation Legacy Management - The Essence of Developing, Managing and Implementing a Plan for Future Generations
Once Removed Episode 13: It’s 5 o’Clock: Do You Know Where Your Will Is? A Lesson From Aretha Franklin
Authorization for Final Disposition
Digital Planning Podcast Episode: Family Office Technology Solutions
Digital Planning Podcast Episode: The Uniform Electronic Estate Planning Documents Act
What is a self-proving affidavit?
The Importance of Beneficiary Designations
The Renoir Spelling Bee
Basics of Estate Planning
The Case of the Laughing Heirs
Protecting Your Estate Plan from Challenges: No-Contest Clause Explained
The Secret Child
Welcome to 'Splitting Heirs'
Interview with Cody Barbo - Digital Planning Podcast
An Executor’s Guide to Administering an Estate
Estate Planning 101: The Five Most Important Clauses for Wills and Trusts
Interview with Lisa Grayson - Digital Planning Podcast
The State of Digital Assets
Global Evolution of Electronic Wills and COVID-19
Everything You Need to Know About Beneficiary Designations
Married couples often have wills naming one another as their primary beneficiary. People also often name their spouse as beneficiary of retirement accounts and life insurance policies. Upon commencing a divorce action,...more
Love may be eternal, but all relationships on this earth are guaranteed to end at some point. In fact, we know with certainty that every marriage is going to end in one of two ways, either by death or divorce....more
What happens when a party dies in the middle of divorce? Under the law, the divorce action abates and the matter is over. In many cases, that is to the benefit of the surviving spouse because, in most cases, they would...more
During the divorce process, one often overlooked area is updating your estate plan. Divorce can impact beneficiary designations on life insurance policies, retirement accounts, and other assets and can also have tax...more
Perhaps you drafted your will years ago and it references many of your existing assets, including retirement plan accounts and life insurance policies. But you also have paperwork on file with the applicable financial...more
It is highly likely that if you’re going through a divorce, your estate plan is going to be the last thing on your mind. However, this is an imperative time to make sure you have the necessary documents in place to protect...more
Forgive the title but this is written amidst the Eagles-Vikings game and on the same date as Queen Elizabeth’s funeral. Commentators noted that the Queen’s final event was more than a generation in the planning and was...more
Those of us from large firms sometimes read opinions where solo practitioners take a shot at an issue and force us to take notice. The facts in this Bucks County case litigated by a solo practitioner against a two lawyer firm...more
Margot and Tony Wendice seem to have it all – they are young, beautiful, and in love. However, much like pyrite, not everything that glitters is gold. Before their marriage, Tony was a successful tennis player. It...more
When you’re in the throes of a separation or divorce, it is easy to forget the importance of updating your will and your estate plan. With so much happening in the here and now, things like beneficiary designations and...more
It happens more often than you think: A surviving spouse is unknowingly excised from their predeceased spouse’s last will and testament to ostensibly be left with nothing. For instance, The Cars front man, Ric Ocasek, removed...more
When you were younger, after getting married and having children, you met with a lawyer and created an estate plan. Now the kids are grown, finished with college, and are is settled in their adult lives. Of your three...more
On September 15, 2019, Ric Ocasek, singer, songwriter, and guitarist of The Cars, died in his Manhattan residence. He was found that morning by his wife, Paulina Porizkova, a supermodel and celebrity in her own right, as she...more
Presented by Cohen Seglias Attorneys Brian Lawton and Whitney Patience O'Reilly on January 23, 2020. It can take years to accumulate assets and increase the value of your business and investments. Unfortunately, without an...more
It can take years to accumulate assets and increase the value of your business and investments. Unfortunately, without an asset protection plan, you could lose everything or a significant portion of what you have worked so...more
You have planned your life carefully. With your spouse you have drawn up a will and established trusts to organize your estate after your deaths. You have made decisions about the guardianship of your children should anything...more
It’s advisable to review and update your estate plan with any change in personal circumstances, financial circumstances, changes in the law, or just the passage of an extended time. But if you’re in the midst of a divorce, or...more
Why do estate planning documents need to be updated when a couple is getting divorced? This simple story illustrates one of the key reasons. An Arizona couple had been married for several years and during their marriage had...more
In In re Estate of Russey, the decedent was going through a divorce and signed a will. No. 12-18-00079-CV, 2019 Tex. App. LEXIS 1536 (Tex. App.—Tyler February 28, 2019, no pet. history). ...more
Divorce attorneys saw a wave of divorces last year due to the changes in the tax laws that took effect on January 1, 2019. If you were one of the masses whose divorce was finalized in 2018, now is the time to revise your...more
An estate planning rule of thumb is to review (and, if necessary, revise) one’s estate plan in light of major life events. Such events include a marriage, birth of a child and a divorce. A second marriage also calls for an...more
Virtually everyone needs an estate plan, but this isn’t a one-size-fits-all proposition. Even though each person’s situation is unique, general guidelines can be drawn depending on one’s current stage of life. This article...more
After going through a divorce, many became so consumed about the divorce itself that it’s hard to know where to turn next. For many, it’s hard to finally accept that the divorce itself is done and now it’s time to move on and...more
A Superior Court decision last month by Judges Lazarus, Bowes and Ott reminds divorce practitioners that there are distinctions to be drawn between the rights of intestate surviving spouses and the rights of a surviving...more
Powers of attorney and trust instruments have each been the subject of many an estate plan. They each have also been the subject of multiple estate litigations. In combination, the two have served as fodder for controversies...more