The recent passing of Queen Elizabeth II underscores the impact of leaving a lasting, meaningful legacy. While the Queen had biographers and the media to document her life in the public eye, we have a service at The Fiduciary Group to help our clients document and pass on their legacy and wealth...
When it comes to trusts, income beneficiaries and remainder beneficiaries typically have competing interests. Income beneficiaries usually want the biggest current distribution, while remainder beneficiaries prefer to protect and preserve trust assets so they will inherit more money in the future....
Americans are living longer than ever, which means it’s more important than ever to plan ahead for your financial future and to efficiently ensure the transfer of wealth to future generations. According to the Stanford Center on Longevity and The Longevity Project, Americans are living...
Over the years, I’ve had a number of clients who mistakenly think that a legally binding will has the power to keep their estate out of probate court. However, to put it simply: having a will isn’t enough. Additional steps must be taken in order to ensure the strategic transfer of assets to your...
I’ve had numerous clients leave family homes—from beach houses to picturesque farms—to their children as part of their estate plans. However, despite the best of intentions, this decision isn’t always in the best interests of the heirs.
While awaiting the recent birth of my first granddaughter, I spent a lot of time thinking about the best possible gift I could give her. Ultimately, I decided that the ideal present for my grandchild was to give her parents–my daughter and her husband–a professionally drafted estate plan.
If you have significant wealth you’d like to preserve, protect and share with future generations, a dynasty trust might be a strategic estate planning option to consider. The dynasty trust is a type of irrevocable trust that’s designed with the long-term, multi-generational transfer of wealth in...
In many families, one partner takes a more active role in handling the finances than the other. Often, this division of labor stems from fear, time pressure or lack of interest. Regardless of the root cause, having one spouse exclusively handling family finances can put the other partner in a...
This article was originally published to subscribers of The Wall Street Journal, found HERE. I once had a client who half-jokingly told me he wanted to be buried with his iPhone in his hand so he could call me—the executor of his estate—from the afterlife to make his voice heard.