Protecting your assets is crucial when it comes to estate planning because you do not want your wealth to fall into the wrong hands should your heirs get married or divorced. If you are like most people, one of the primary goals of your estate plan is likely to ensure that your assets are distributed according to your wishes after your death. While that is certainly an understandable estate planning goal, your plan should not stop there. To ensure that you have sufficient assets left to pass … [Read more...]
Understanding Asset Protection Trusts
Acquiring assets is undoubtedly part of your overall estate plan; however, simply amassing assets without taking steps to protect those assets can cause the most well-drafted estate plan to fail. One way to protect assets is through the creation of an asset protection trust. With that in mind, the trust attorneys at Morris Hall PLLC explain what you should know about asset protection trusts. Common Types of Asset Protection Trusts What Else Do I Need to Know about Asset Protection … [Read more...]
What You Need to Know About Asset Protection
It may seem like a grim subject but preparing for what happens after you pass away is crucial to protecting your legacy and your family. No matter how little or grand your assets are, the fact is you’ve worked a lifetime to accumulate what you have and it’s important protection it for those you love. There are many people who believe that setting up a will is enough, but unfortunately, this is just not true. It’s important to know which estate planning strategies can keep your assets safe from … [Read more...]
How Proper Estate Planning Can Protect What is Important to You
There is a better way to plan, whether you have no plan, are planning with a Will, or are planning with a Trust, we want to make sure your plan works for you. One way to plan is with a living trust. A trust is a legal document that not only controls the distribution of your assets after you are gone, but also provides protections to handle your affairs if you are incapacitated. A trust can also shield assets from lawsuits, creditors, it can protect the inheritance your beneficiaries receive in … [Read more...]
Phoenix Asset Protection Attorneys Explain How to Protect Your Estate in Case Your Surviving Spouse Remarries
By its very nature, estate planning requires you to contemplate possibilities -- and eventualities -- that you probably prefer not to dwell on. At the heart of most estate plans, after all, is a plan for the distribution of estate assets after the death of the plan’s creator. If you are married, one of your primary estate planning goals will likely be to protect and provide for your spouse in the event that you are the first to go. Have you thought about what your spouse might do with … [Read more...]
ARIZONA PASSES NEW LAW REGARDING ESTATE PLANNING FOR YOUR DIGITAL ASSETS
Have you ever wondered who will inherit your digital photos, social media accounts, websites, emails, text messages, or other important “digital assets” when you die? As the digital world is rapidly changing and progressing, so is the law. As of August 8, 2016, Arizona adopted a new law called the “Revised Uniform Fiduciary Access to Digital Assets Act” (FAADA). This new law grants fiduciaries (i.e. power of attorney agents, trustees, and personal representatives) access to these “digital … [Read more...]
5 Most Common Estate Planning Errors
Most families don’t receive their wealth through inheritance or winning the lottery, but rather through years of hard work and sacrifice. However, it always amazes me that although everyone understands that we are all going to die, a vast majority disregard estate planning completely. Here are five common estate planning mistakes that can ruin the legacy that you have worked so hard to build. 1. No Will. Approximately 70% of Americans do not plan at all, and therefore die ‘intestate’. … [Read more...]
Asset Protection – It Works
If I told you an inheritance can be left to whomever you want, without the fear that it could be taken by a lawsuit, bankruptcy or even divorce, would you want that benefit included in your plan? In today’s litigious society, asset protection is a critical component in anyone’s estate plan. Our clients make sure the inheritance they leave their loved ones is protected. With a properly drafted trust, you can rest in peace knowing that the money you left behind will be used by your loved one, and … [Read more...]
Asset Protection Tools and Techniques
I recently wrote on the basics of asset protection. If we get sued, if we go bankrupt, what happens to our assets? For many of us, this the asset protection concept is important – we want what we have worked for to be there for us and our loved ones. You already utilize some asset protection techniques without even realizing it. There are laws on the books that provide certain protections for your primary residence and for your retirement savings (i.e. IRA). You have insurances, such as … [Read more...]
