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Estate Planning

Supreme Court Case Highlights the Importance of Keeping Your Beneficiaries Up to Date

Kennedy v. Plan Administrator for DuPont
With little fanfare, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled on a case back in January that highlights the importance of keeping your beneficiaries up to date. Having a beneficiary on file with one of your financial accounts can make the transition of assets upon death a very simple process. But with [...]

A Reminder to Keep Your Beneficiaries Up-to-Date

When it comes to our investment accounts, one of the most overlooked aspects is the beneficiary form. In some cases, people don’t add a beneficiary at all, and in other cases, the information is outdated and the wrong people are listed on the account. Nobody likes to think about death, but the beneficiary information is [...]

Transferring Assets Upon Death With a Trust

This week I have covered how the disposition of assets is handled by using a will and through contract and the operation of law. Finally, I want to briefly mention trusts. Since there are many different kinds of trusts and can be relatively complex, this is only a brief overview of what they are and [...]

Transferring Assets Upon Death by Operation of Law or Contract

Yesterday I provided an overview of how you can use a will to assist in transferring assets upon your death, but there are still other methods to consider. When you assign beneficiaries in your will, it is typically for items that don’t have a separate beneficiary on file or are not covered by operation of [...]