Estate Planning Awareness

If you run a small business, you know that it can keep you up at night. Staffing, bookkeeping, inventory, customer relations and so much more are all things that may have your mind racing at a [...]

Many websites offer customized, do-it-yourself wills and other estate planning documents.  Although such products are convenient, using them could create serious and expensive legal problems for [...]

Naming a trust as a beneficiary of your retirement plan can be a good idea in some circumstances, but it can be dangerous if you are worried about creditors coming after your estate.  There are a [...]

Elder law and estate planning serve two different — but equally vital — functions. The main difference is that elder law is focused on preserving your assets during your lifetime, [...]

The amount you can gift to any one person without filing a gift tax form is increasing to $16,000 in 2022, the first increase since 2018. The federal estate tax exclusion is also climbing to more [...]

During his lifetime, former Governor Edwin Edwards was a legend. In death, he is also likely to become a legend in Louisiana law circles for at least one reason. That reason is Louisiana’s forced [...]

While everyone should have a durable power of attorney that appoints someone to act for them if they become incapacitated, in some circumstances it is not enough. In these cases, a revocable [...]

A number of tax proposals being considered in Congress could significantly affect gifting and estate plans for those with larger estates — over $3.5 million. If you’re in that [...]

Do you have a will? A durable power of attorney? A health care proxy? If so, no reason to read on. If not, why not? Failure to create an estate plan risks causing discord in your family for [...]

Most months, this column is a space to share best practices and tips on how to build your estate and plan for its transfer to your loved ones upon your death. Despite all of our well-made plans, [...]