Estate Planning

Most people have at least a basic understanding of beneficiary designations as they are associated with individual retirement accounts, life insurance policies and 401(k)s, for example. Many investment accounts require that the account holder designate a beneficiary...

Estate executors in Indiana and other states are responsible for completing a variety of tasks. These tasks can include informing heirs about a family member's death, filing tax returns or closing a deceased person's credit card accounts. In most cases, the first...

One of the primary benefits of a revocable living trust is that a grantor can make changes to it whenever he or she wants. In some cases, it may be easier to change a trust than it is to change a will. In addition to the ability to change the document, Indiana...

Some people in Indiana might not have created an estate plan even if they have substantial assets. It is not uncommon for people to procrastinate creating an estate plan, but this can mean that the person's assets do not go to the people intended. First, people should...

If you have a 401(k), IRA or other type of retirement or financial account, it may be possible to attach a beneficiary designation to it. This allows family members or others in Indiana to inherit any money that was in those accounts when you pass. However, it is...

With the seemingly endless in-fighting among members of Congress making the headlines recently, you may have missed the news of a law intended to provide some long-overdue savings and retirement reforms that passed late last year. The Setting Every Community Up for...

If you're the executor for a loved one's estate, one of your responsibilities likely involves unloading all of the belongings in their home. Often, people will designate in their will that their belongings be sold and the proceeds go back in to their estate to be...

Your daughter has started college. She spends her first winter break at her roommate's family's home in Vermont and suffers a concussion on the ski slopes. As you try to talk to the doctor treating her, you learn that since she's 18, you have no right to any medical...

When you create a durable financial power of attorney, you create a document that grants someone, called an agent or an attorney-in-fact, the power to manage your financial affairs. Unless you limit the legal power you grant this person, he or she will be able to...

Senior citizens seem to be inundated these days with ads for reverse mortgages. Many TV ads feature actors trusted by older people. While reverse mortgages can provide seniors with needed income, they also have disadvantages. Even if you avoid the reverse mortgage...