Every time you make a decision in life, you’re choosing to say “yes” to one thing and “no” to all the other options available to you. That’s known as opportunity cost. There’s an opportunity cost with how you structure your financial and estate plan, too! With limited resources, you have to make judgment calls about what you do and who gets what. A comprehensive financial and estate plan includes many different Read More
October 19-25 is National Estate Planning Awareness Week
It is estimated that less than half of Americans have an estate plan. To increase awareness about the importance of estate planning, Congress adopted National Estate Planning Awareness Week in 2008, which is observed annually during the third full week of October. Why is estate planning so important? On the most basic level, it allows you to take complete control of your affairs and protect your assets now and in Read More
Is Spending Too Much Jeopardizing Your Retirement Plan?
There are many different mistakes that you could make in the wake of saving for retirement and ensuring that you have protected your interest as you get closer to 65 or your anticipated retirement age. As you get closer to retirement, it becomes very important to update your financial plan and ensure that you have a budget established to align with your income sources. As you get closer to your retirement, you'll Read More
What Is a Specific Bequest?
There are many different questions that can come up during the estate planning process and one of them can involve whether or not to use specific bequests inside your will. Some people have the perception that leaving behind specific bequests sets your other beneficiaries up for potential conflict over the contents of the will. Specific bequests refer to leaving a certain asset to an individual or multiple Read More
Four Important Terms Related to Powers of Attorney
A power of attorney can be specially crafted to align with your individual needs and expectations. It is very important to familiarize yourself with some of the different aspects of different power of attorney forms to ensure that you have selected the right type of power of attorney based on your individual circumstances and the person you intend to appoint. A power of attorney allows you to name an individual Read More
Adding and Removing a Power of Attorney
You can find many different power of attorney forms online. However, this is gamble because what seems like minor mistakes in these templates or forms could prove very problematic in the very circumstances you need someone to use a power of attorney. It is very helpful to instead talk with an estate planning lawyer about your specific needs so that they can recommend the documents and language that would work the Read More
New Hampshire Lawmakers Investigate Nursing Home Safety
In light of COVID-19, the focus on safety and patient outcomes at nursing homes has become more important than ever. The nursing homes in New Hampshire are no exception, and legislators in the state want to know how the pandemic has impacted residents of these facilities. A legislative committee has been formed to look into the issues and complete a report about some of the chief concerns and an overall picture of Read More
What You Should Know About Testamentary Trusts
There are many different components to a comprehensive estate plan and one of these could be a testamentary trust. This legal document is usually drafted inside of your will and becomes effective at the time of your death as part of your estate planning strategy in NH. Benefactors are able to exert some control over the distribution of how their assets are passed on to loved ones by using a testamentary trust. This Read More
Recognizing the Challenges of Undue Influence for Elders
Undue influence refers to taking unfair advantage over another person's weakness of body or mind and using it to produce an unfair advantage over someone. This comes up most frequently in the context of estate planning in which you might argue that a loved one has been unduly influenced by an outside party. Imagine that one of your loved ones is handicapped, requires in-home care, is elderly or is experiencing Read More
What Is a Trustee Fee?
A trustee is a person who serves in an important role in managing the assets and administration of a trust. This person is also entitled to receive compensation based on their efforts managing the assets and the responsibilities associated with the trust. Trustee fees are payments for services rendered whether the trustee is an organization or an individual. Various duties are associated with the responsibility of a Read More
