The Risks of Bad Advice
The Importance of Beneficiary Designations
The Secret Child
Estate Planning 101: The Five Most Important Clauses for Wills and Trusts
Ruder Ware's Elder Law Team Recognizes National Special Needs Law Month - Part 2
Everything You Need to Know About Beneficiary Designations
The Wonder Years - Rediscovering the Magic of Split Dollar Life Insurance
Roughly two-thirds of Americans are estimated to die without executing a valid will. As a result, assets in their name will pass under the laws of intestacy of their home state. The laws of intestacy are essentially default...more
As the end of 2024 draws near, it’s a great time to review your finances and prepare for a prosperous new year. Whether you’re cozying up by the fire or decorating with family, a little year-end financial planning can help...more
Marital estate rights create the potential for catastrophic consequences should a spouse pass away at a time when the parties are physically separated but have not yet signed a separation agreement or been granted a divorce....more
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
As a bit of background, there is a distinction between probate assets and non-probate assets. Probate assets are distributed according to your will during a probate administration whereas non-probate assets are distributed...more
A new Minnesota law comes into effect on August 1, 2024, which flags the importance of addressing insurance coverage within your estate plan, especially if your plan utilizes transfer on death deeds. A transfer on death deed...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
If your life changes, so should your estate plan. Marriage, divorce, death of a spouse, a birth and a changing relationship with a child are just some of the life changes that may affect your estate plan. Unfortunately, as...more
Financial institutions and brokerage firms occasionally recommend that client accounts be structured as joint or beneficiary-designated accounts without full consideration of the impact on the client’s estate plan....more
Presented by Cohen Seglias associate Whitney Patience O'Reilly on October 22, 2020. An often overlooked but important aspect of estate planning is the designation of beneficiaries—both primary and contingent—on life...more
An often overlooked but important aspect of estate planning is the designation of beneficiaries—both primary and contingent—on life insurance policies and retirement accounts. In this webinar, Whitney O’Reilly, a seasoned...more
...If you make a mistake in naming beneficiaries for your life insurance policy, you could hurt the very people you're trying to protect. These mistakes can hurt you and your loved ones no matter where you live in the United...more
The Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement (SECURE) Act was made a part of the appropriations bill late in 2019 and was signed into law on December 20, 2019....more
So, you’ve signed your estate planning documents. Nice work. But don’t forget that just having a Will and Trust is not enough. How you own your assets is an essential part of the equation, and should be reviewed to ensure...more
In a youth-focused society, it is difficult to contemplate aging, let alone dying. Many young people assume, incorrectly, that estate planning is just for the elderly or the very wealthy. There are four reasons why everyone -...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
When a man dies in California, who gets the proceeds of his life insurance policy? The answer seems obvious: the named beneficiaries in the paperwork received and accepted by the life insurance company....more
Estate planning for families who have children with special needs is similar to general family estate planning. The key, however, is to make sure that any funds or other assets put aside for a child or adult who is receiving,...more
It is speculated that Choupette Lagerfeld, the pampered Parisian pet of the iconic late German fashion designer, Karl Lagerfeld, may have a stake in Lagerfeld’s vast fortune....more
Older parents are becoming more common, driven in part by changing cultural mores and advances in infertility treatment. Comedian and author Steve Martin had his first child at age 67. Singer Billy Joel just welcomed his...more
Most special needs trusts (SNTs) are set up to benefit one individual. But it’s possible to contribute to a trust where the funds of many people with special needs are “pooled.” This kind of trust, called a pooled or...more
In Naidoo v Discovery Life Limited & others (202/20170) ZASCA 88 (31 May 2018) the Supreme Court of Appeal was faced with the main task of determining whether a risk-only policy with a beneficiary clause constitutes an asset...more
While in the process of divorcing, your attorney will remind you that you cannot change beneficiary designations on your accounts until the divorce is finalized. It is not uncommon to want to put the divorce out of your...more
A common estate planning mistake is to designate a minor as beneficiary — or contingent beneficiary — of a life insurance policy or retirement plan. This brief article discusses why it’s better to designate one or more trusts...more
We all have hopefully made explicit designations of beneficiaries for our life insurance policies, retirement accounts and even some investment accounts which provide for payment upon death without a court order. It’s...more