Many of our clients, particularly those with substantial estates, are fearful of probate. They have learned that this process, during which the will of a deceased person is legally validated, can be expensive and time-consuming. When they contact us and begin working with our knowledgeable, highly competent estate planning attorneys,...
Use Estate Planning to Protect Your Family if You Die Without Warning
At Surprenant & Beneski, P.C., we are well aware that working with estate planners is the way to protect your family from the logistical, legal, and financial problems that may beset them when you die, especially if you die suddenly and unexpectedly.
While nobody likes to think about...
Finding Ways To Pay for Your Child’s Education with Your Estate Planner
Even if there are two wage earners contributing to your family’s income, for most families the thought of how to fund their child’s higher education is daunting. If you have several children whose education you’re planning to finance, the prospect can be downright terrifying.
As with most worries about...
Excuses Why People Don’t Have an Estate Plan
Many clients fail to plan because they are under the assumption that estate planning is only for the wealthy. If you have any assets or any children, you have a need to plan. Estate planning is used to protect individuals and their loved ones of all ages and at all stages of life....
Where to Keep Your Legal Documents
So, you’ve planned ahead and have decided how you want your affairs to be handled upon your passing. You have signed all of your Basic Estate Planning documents: a Last Will and Testament, a Durable Power of Attorney, a living will, a Massachusetts Health Care Proxy, and a HIPAA Release. You may...
10 Ways to Deal With Siblings Who Don’t Help With Aging Parents
When the health of an elderly parent starts to decline, typically one sibling steps in to become the primary caregiver. The demands start out small. Care is easy at first. But as care demands more time and money, stress builds and so can resentment toward non-contributing family members. Old rivalries and jealousies...
Estate Planning for a Multi-Generational Family
Times have changed and so has the idea of what a traditional family looks like. Due to economic or practical circumstances, more households have become multi-generational homes with grandparents, parents and children all living under one roof, according to a Pew Research Center analysis of census data. The dynamic of a multi-generational...
Becoming Minimalist Article: Inheritance: It’s More than You Think
WRITTEN by JOSHUA BECKER
I was recently asked, “How does your view of passing on an inheritance factor in your minimizing?”
I responded with a quote from Peter Strople I’ve never forgotten:
Legacy is not leaving something for people. It’s leaving something in people.
Benefits of a Virtual Estate Planning Consultation
As awful as the coronavirus pandemic is, we should all be grateful that it has hit at a time in history when we have the technology to help us cope. First and foremost, medical science has advanced to the point that vaccines to protect us from catastrophe have been developed at an...
Why Estate Planning Should Be One of Your New Year’s Resolutions
New Year’s resolutions are about planning your future and many of us view them as pathways to self-improvement -- to lose weight, exercise more, spend less on frivolous items, respond to emails more promptly. Beyond that, we often conceive of New Year’s resolutions as a means of tackling things we’ve been putting...