No one needs a sound will and estate plan as much as older citizens do. The senior years usually bring increased vulnerability to these members of society. Unless your elders already have a solid estate plan, you may feel worried about what will happen to them as they...
What makes a durable power of attorney different from other powers of attorney?
Not all legal documents have the same purposes. Even documents that may seem the same on the surface are slightly different. An advance medical directive, for example, is different from a medical power of attorney. Both might relate to the medical care you'd receive...
Is do-it-yourself estate planning good enough?
Many people who certainly know that they need an estate plan nonetheless do not have one in place. When asked, a common response is that they’ll do it later. Some people mention that all they need to do is download a blank form online and fill it out. How hard can it...
Not all wills are recognized as valid in Minnesota
If you have never engaged in estate planning, there exists a chance that you do not know as much about valid wills as you may think. All states have specific laws about what makes a will valid. Minnesota is no exception, and those who fail to understand the state’s...
What you need to know about the impact your retirement account has on estate planning
Estate planning involves much more than merely executing a will. You may also want to draft a health care directive, power of attorney or set up an asset protection tool such as a trust. Reviewing your retirement plan to ensure that you're comfortable with your...
Want to skip a generation with your estate plans? A generation-skipping trust can help
Most of the time, people leave the bulk of their assets to their immediate heirs -- the adult sons and daughters they leave behind. But what if that’s not really your preference? What if you’d prefer to skip the next generation and leave your wealth to your...
Can you pass on your digital movie collection?
Movie collections used to consist of cabinets full of VHS tapes or DVDs. Many people put thousands of dollars into them. Plus, those movies had a lot of sentimental value, as they may have watched them with their children while growing up. It just made sense to put...
Avoiding probate in Minnesota can be challenging
If there is one thing we have learned in our time serving residents of St. Paul, Minnesota, it is that people dread the thought of probate. As such, they try to find methods that enable their heirs to avoid this process. In most cases, probate is inevitable, but there...
Write a will when you have a child
People often make the mistake of assuming that only the elderly need to do their estate planning. Perhaps they look at life expectancy, see that it’s hovering right around 78 years old, and assume that they can wait to do their estate planning until they retire. If...
Restricting authority for the people who hold power of attorney
It is quite common for people to include a power of attorney with their estate planning documents. It is a key component of a thorough living will. After all, if you become incapacitated somehow, it's important to have someone or multiple people with the legal...
