Every year, I attend the annual Pennsylvania Elder Law Institute for two days in Harrisburg. It's just one of the many ways I keep up to date on the current laws, policies and...

One of the top questions I get is, “How do I protect the inheritance I’m going to leave to my heirs or loved ones?” It’s a great question because it shows you’re thinking beyond just fundamental or basic estate planning. Instead, you are thinking about a legacy plan. With a legacy plan, asset protection...

Top 5 Reasons To Consider a Trust For Your IRA

Why worry about putting your IRA into a trust? More and more families are putting in place a Retirement Asset Protection Trust today, and we give you a few reasons why here.

5 – IRA’s are Valuable: Your IRA’s may be...

 

As an estate planning attorney, I hear about some of the craziest, outrageous estate planning matters gone awry. But those types of cases are outliers, and although they’re interesting, they’re uncommon. It’s the typical case gone wrong that really causes problems for more families.

For instance, in one relatively straightforward...

Joint Accounts with Children: Convenient, But Dangerous

By Jeremy A. Wechsler, Esq.

Your Estate Planning & Asset Protection Attorney 

Many people believe that joint accounts are a good way to avoid probate and transfer money to loved ones, particularly for single or widowed clients.  But while joint accounts can be...

 

Sure, there are more than three common estate planning mistakes. But we thought we'd highlight three of them in this week's blog.   1.Your plan does not match your needs: Why do we see clients with relatively simple needs come to us with large revocable living trusts? Or clients with...

Leaving an inheritance to a child, grandchild or a loved one is a gracious gift and is part of leaving a legacy in which you can be proud. But what if, after your loved one receives their inheritance, they get divorced?

In many Last Will & Testaments, testators will leave their assets outright to...

The question is, when you engage in estate planning, are you thinking carefully enough about protecting the inheritance you'll be leaving to your heirs?

If you leave your assets outright in a will to a beneficiary, the asset is owned by the beneficiary upon death. That means that the beneficiary can spend...

Use Trusts Instead of Outright Distributions: An outright distribution offers no protection to your loved ones and you have no control to ensure the inheritance stays in your bloodlines. Asset protection is crucial if you want your estate plan to work through the years and perhaps generations to come. Asset protection is important...

Most people know that it’s crucial to plan for retirement. It used to be the case that saving about $1 Million would cover a typical couple, but that number seems to be ticking up rapidly. Retirement planning is a specialty, and you should see a qualified retirement planning professional.

But...