General Estate Planning

The Role of Taxes and Appraisals in Making Gifts Last month, we discussed the role of an executor: the court-appointed person responsible for managing the administration of a deceased [...]

Gifting assets to your grandchildren can do more than help your descendants get a good start in life — it can also reduce the size of your estate and the tax that will be due upon your [...]

Retirement is an expensive affair, and planning for it involves managing finances even after you have left the workforce. It is commonly estimated that you should have about 70 percent to 90 [...]

A Roth IRA does not have to be used as just a retirement plan; it can also be a way to transfer assets tax-free to the next generation.  Unlike a traditional IRA, contributions to a Roth IRA are [...]

Collecting art or other valuable items can be a passion for many people. Often such a pastime is more about enjoying the art or the medium itself than about ensuring financial gain. However, once [...]

Unfortunately, not all families get along. If you are having problems with one of your children, you may not want them to benefit from your estate. There are several strategies for dealing with [...]

A few days before I sat down to write this month’s column, I was at dinner with my daughter and son-in-law, when the latter excitedly announced to the table that the first Saints game was less [...]

Not everyone wants to take the required minimum distributions from their retirement accounts right away. If you don’t want your distribution, one option is to donate it to charity and get a tax [...]

In most states, spouses can purchase and own property separately from one another. I’d like to think that when I buy a bag of Zapp’s Crawtators that they belong to me and only me, even if I bring [...]

Parents usually want to leave their children equal shares of their estate, but equal isn’t always fair. If you plan to provide more (or less) for one child in your estate plan, preparation is [...]