By Patricia C. Kraft After your death, your assets will be owned by others. The transfers of your assets will occur in various ways, depending on how each asset was owned and titled. Ensuring that these transfers happen quickly and inexpensively is a big part of estate planning – and it is something you can […]
When you create a will or trust, you will name the person who will carry out your wishes after your death. This decision deserves serious consideration. Making the choice might be easier if you know the details of the job descriptions for executor and trustee. The executor named in your will is the person who […]
When I write or speak about estate planning, I spend little time talking about wills. How can I neglect that topic? Isn’t a will the most critical part of an estate plan? Not usually. A complete estate plan seeks to accomplish several things: 1. Make sure assets go to the persons you choose; 2. Organize […]
Attending to the chore of getting an estate plan done may seem like an unnecessarily expensive, difficult process that you probably don’t need anyway because you don’t have very much wealth. Here are two scenarios that might demonstrate why estate planning is important for just about everyone. The scenarios are not uncommon. The names and […]
Sometimes the things we ought to do (estate planning) get sidetracked by the urgencies of life. When people die without an estate plan, and they own probate assets, the family and the local bank may assume that probate is required. In some cases, probate can be avoided and assets can be transferred in other ways. […]
Larry Lough is editor of The Independent and reports local news.
Janet Dovidio has been a freelance correspondent for The Independent for eight years.
Susan W. Murray wrote for The Independent, covering various beats, from 2005 to 2008.
Tricia Carzoli is a freelance writer and photographer that on community news.
