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Welcome to this session of grand rounds, a collection of posts I have discovered in the blogosphere and have found of interest and hope you do too.
This offering of Grand Rounds looks at articles from around the web that deal with estate planning/wills.
When my daughter was born in 2005 I decided it was time to have a will created, thinking it was the right thing to do.
A lot of us stop at that step and think we are set for estate planning.
But is just having a will adequate, especially if you have a larger estate?
FI Physician broaches this topic in, “Is Having A Will Enough?”
A living trust can be an essential component in any estate plan.
By having a trust in place you can avoid your assets going through probate, a very public, and often very expensive diversion.
Money and assets that may be needed by your heirs can be tied up for years going through probate.
The solution is to create a living trust.
Smart Asset gives the low down on Living Trusts in, “What is A Living Trust And Do You Need One.”
In today’s society it is very common to see individuals in their 2nd, 3rd, or even 4th marriages out there.
Often times these individuals have kids from previous relationships creating a “blended family.”
I previously had an article describing some of the financial complications a blended family presents.
Forbes expounds on this topic with, “Second Marriage and Estate Planning: 5 Things You May Not Have Considered.”
Got your mind on your money and money on your mind?
Maybe it is time to add one other item, estate planning.
That is exactly what Passive Income MD does in, “Estate Planning Is On My Mind.”
Right on the US dollar bill it says in God We Trust.
That kind of trust is irrevocable.
But what about a trust that we need to set up for estate planning?
Should it be revocable or irrevocable, and exactly what does that imply?
Fear not, US News was kind enough to help us decipher this option in, “Choosing Between A Revocable And Irrevocable Trust For Your Client.”
Hope you enjoyed the reading material.
Have a great rest of the week.
Note:
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Wow. What a great GR. I hope you’re not turned off by the previous lack of comments. People don’t like talking about estate, but it’s the whole second level of finances. What the point of FIRE if you can’t help the next generation(s)? Although I understand not raising trust fund babies, of course. I particularly enjoyed your blended families interview. The only thing I’d love for you to consider is your writing intellectual property. Your blog is a treasure trove. Copyright lasts your lifetime+75 years in the US. You should think about how best to pass it on to your… Read more »
Thanks Melissa for the great comments as always
I actually finally got off my butt this year and formed an estate plan a couple of weeks ago and now in the process of funding the trust (which is a vital step). I plan on writing a post about it in the future to help motivate others.
Never really thought about copywriting my posts as I never assigned much financial value to them. But thanks for thinking they are worthy of it.
Cool. I will eagerly await your trust article. Good for you! You’re the only person I know who’s already done it, and are ahead of me. Will you also address medical corporations?
Your posts are copyrighted as soon as you write them, so you don’t have to formally register for copyright. It’s more a question of how your daughter would continue to monetize your site, or if you’d want to write a book. Totally up to you!
Ahh. Thanks for the copyright update. That’s cool I don’t have to do anything extra. I do hope to write a book one day but who knows if I get to that level of writing. But it would be cool to see a hard copy of something I wrote for sale.
My trust is really an individual revocable trust that I am currently funding with various assets I own. So there won’t be medical corporation spin to in unfortunately