In many families, the family dynamic can include the dramatic elements of one child being the favorite and another child getting cut out of a parent’s will. When a child gets disinherited because of favoritism toward another child or a broken relationship between the disinherited child and the parent, that child often wants to...

Receiving a windfall like a personal injury settlement can be something that an older adult dreams of, until the fallout from the settlement starts. If you receive Medicaid benefits and rely on that for your health insurance and eligibility for other public assistance programs, getting a personal injury settlement could disqualify you from the...

One of the first things you should do after getting a divorce is to change your will, trust, and other estate planning documents. It is easy to procrastinate on doing so because you might find yourself busier than ever with your new lifestyle and because you might feel emotionally wrung out and tired of...

An executor of a will administers the will of a deceased person, and a trustee manages the living trust or testamentary trust of a person. The living trust will need to be managed during the lifetime of the person who set up the trust and afterward. A testamentary trust doesn’t exist during the lifetime...

Many people realize that they should create an estate plan, but they worry about the cost. The amount that an estate plan costs can vary a great deal, based on things like which documents you need, the complexity of your situation, and how many revisions you make before approving and signing the documents.

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The person who agreed to serve as a guardian might eventually become unable or unwilling to perform that duty. In that situation, the law provides several different ways to change guardians.

Changing guardians is not as simple as another person agreeing to take on the responsibility. You have to follow a formal process...

When you have young children, you want to provide for them financially in case you do not live to see them become adults. You might buy a life insurance policy and get a will or living trust. You can and should name someone to serve as your child’s guardian if you die before the...

A life insurance trust is a special kind of trust designed to avoid some of the estate tax problems that can arise when a decedent owned a life insurance policy that did not name someone else as the beneficiary of the proceeds. There are good reasons in some situations to have life insurance with...

Florida law does not force you to work with a lawyer to create your estate plan, but the real question is whether you should do your own estate planning. There are inexpensive DIY forms online and in software programs, so writing your own will or trust might seem like a great way to save...

If an aging loved one starts behaving in a manner that concerns you, it could be the result of many things, including that someone is manipulating or controlling your loved one. Unfortunately, some people see the elderly as walking money pots who can be exploited.

You might discover that your parent recently...