Again, if you do not have a valid estate plan, the state has one for you. It will move the assets by bloodline, and it may go to people you don’t know or have never met. There is a strong reason greed is one of the seven deadly sins. Greed brings out the worst in... [Read More]
Category: Family Dynamics
Blended Families: Impact on Estate Planning
Our last blog introduced one of the toughest talks we have with clients – those concerning their Adult Children and Grandchildren. As we said in the outset this is a “Highly Charged” area as these emotions are so close to the heart and the relationships are so intricately interwoven. There is no right or wrong... [Read More]
Blended Families – Adult Children – Grandchildren
The tough talks we, as lawyers, have with our clients about their estate planning often involve a discussion about the relationships they hold dearest. This blog series, Tough Talks, addresses those relationships and how they impact estate planning. Let’s recap briefly: We have discussed that 55 and up year old people are increasingly remarrying (Blog... [Read More]
Remarriage – Money Discussions and Impact on Estate Planning
In this ongoing series, Getting Real, we talk about the Tough Talks estate planning lawyers undertake with their clients. Remarriage is a common topic. We previously discussed the high percentage of people that remarry or enter into a partnership after they are 55 years old. This statistic has increased over time as we pointed out... [Read More]
Remarriage – Partner: Getting Real in Estate Planning
In our last blog (Getting Real in Estate Planning: Tough Talks), we wrote about the difficult or sensitive conversations estate planning lawyers have with their clients. It’s what we must do to ensure your estate planning goals are achieved which is why listening and knowing what to ask are so important. The first topic we... [Read More]
Getting Real in Estate Planning: Tough Talks
A lot of what we do, is hear great stories. We meet fabulous individuals, and hear a lot about their kids and their interesting stories about their lives and how they became successful and can now leave something to their loved ones. This is a positive in estate planning. The other side of Estate Planning... [Read More]
FAMILY BUSINESS TRANSITION
Is the Family Business Transition Planned for? Statistics show that a business owner may average more than 900,000 hours in the creation and running of the business, and yet spend less than 4 hours on planning its transition. The business owner may be so solely focused on the running of the business that they have... [Read More]
The Family Business – Statistics, Structure and Unique Estate Planning Issues
This blog follows up our last blog regarding families and their transitions of assets and businesses. Sometimes those families are famously like the J. Paul Getty family or the Biltmore Estate Cecil family. Sometimes it is the family down the street with the dry cleaning store on the corner. In this blog we explore how... [Read More]
Succession: Getty and the Biltmore Estate
Estate planning often involves business succession planning as well. Parents create a business that grows over time, employs many people and becomes part of the local culture and in some cases, expands into the region or country or even worldwide. While we often think of the personal inheritances and personal assets in estate planning, when... [Read More]
Bonus Material: Family Conflict in Estate Planning for Today’s Family
There is so much Family Conflict that I have seen over time when dealing with client’s Estate Plans. I had planned to limit the subject to 5 Blogs, but thought it was important to add in these important thoughts for your consideration. If any of these areas relate to your personal Estate Plan, make sure... [Read More]