While the current estate tax exemption is quite high, a closely held family business may put your estate over the limit. Careful planning is necessary to lower or completely avoid the tax, and minority valuation discounts are one strategy.

Most people want to pass their assets to their children or grandchildren, but naming a minor as a beneficiary can have unintended consequences. It is important to make a plan that doesn’t involve leaving assets directly to a minor.  

Being asked to serve as the trustee of the trust of a family member is a great honor. But being a trustee is also a heavy responsibility. Here are six questions to ask before saying “yes.”

Britney Spears’s struggle to regain control over her business and personal life shines a spotlight on legal guardianship and alternatives that involve less loss of control over one’s life.

Directed trusts can be a useful estate planning tool, allowing you to place your family’s assets in a trust but benefit from the expertise of an advisor who knows more about the handling of certain trust functions than you may. 

Do you have a will? A durable power of attorney? A health care proxy? If not, why not? Failure to create an estate plan risks causing discord in your family for generations to come.

More and more of the music, movies, and books we own exist only online, in digital form. What happens to these collections after the owner’s death?  You may be surprised at the answer.