Your Family Matters Blog
Life is Multifaceted: Teach a Child to Be Open & Embrace Complexities
When you picture a “normal” family, what do you see? Is it the traditional notion of one male parent and one female parent, two kids, and a family pet? Or do you see something different? Or perhaps you reject the notion of a “normal” family altogether? Recent court...
5 Estate Planning Must-Dos if You’re Getting Divorced—Part 2
In the first part of this series, we discussed a couple of the most critical updates you must make to your estate plan if you’re getting divorced. Here, we’ll cover the last three of these must-do planning tasks. Because getting divorced can be overwhelming on so many...
5 Estate Planning Must-Dos if You’re Getting Divorced—Part 1
Divorce can be traumatic for the whole family. Even if the process is amicable, it involves many tough decisions, legal hassles, and painful emotions that can drag out over several months, or even years. That said, while you probably don’t want to add any more items...
Understand What’s at Stake Before Agreeing to Serve as Trustee
Being asked by a family member or close friend to serve as trustee for their trust upon their death can be an incredible honor. At the same time, however, serving as a trustee can be a massive responsibility—and the role is not for everyone. In fact, depending on the...
4 Critical Estate Planning Tasks to Complete Before Going on Vacation
Going on vacation entails lots of planning: packing luggage, buying plane tickets, making hotel reservations, and confirming rental vehicles. But one thing many people forget to do is plan for the worst. Traveling, especially in foreign destinations, means you’ll...
Actor Luke Perry’s Death Demonstrates the Importance of Planning for Incapacity
In late February, Luke Perry, who became famous starring in the 1990s TV series Beverly Hills 90210, suffered a massive stroke at age 52. He was hospitalized under heavy sedation, and five days later, when it became clear he wouldn’t recover, his family decided to...
Overlooking This Basic Part of Your Estate Plan Can Be Tragic
The recent death of the CEO of QuadrigaCX, a major cryptocurrency exchange in Canada, demonstrates a basic, yet often-overlooked, the tenet of effective estate planning: In the event of your incapacity or death, if your heirs don’t know how to find or access your...
Use Estate Planning To Enrich Your Family With More Than Just Material Wealth
In the weeks before her death from ovarian cancer, author Amy Krouse Rosenthal gave her husband Jason one of the most treasured gifts a person could receive. She penned the touching essay “You May Want to Marry My Husband” in the New York Times as a final love letter...