Revocable living trusts are widely known for helping families avoid probate after death. That benefit is real, but it is often not the most urgent reason a trust matters. For comprehensive estate planning, a trust addresses challenges that arise both after death and during life.

In real life, many families face a harder question first: What happens if Mom or Dad is alive but can’t manage money anymore? A hospitalization, a stroke, a fall with complications, or advancing dementia can quickly turn everyday tasks into a crisis. 

Bills still need to be paid. Insurance paperwork still arrives. Property taxes still come due. Care costs can change month to month.

A properly designed and managed revocable living trust can provide a clear, private, and practical framework for handling these responsibilities during incapacity, not just after death.

A new trailer was recently released for As Deep as the Grave starring Val Kilmer. 

Before 2026, that likely would not have raised eyebrows. A Hollywood icon returning to the screen is nothing new.

But Kilmer passed away last April.

Using generative artificial intelligence (AI), the film recreates his likeness and voice, placing him back on screen with the consent of his estate. The project reportedly uses “state-of-the-art” AI to show his character across multiple stages of life, with over an hour of screen time.

It starts innocently enough: You’ve been meaning to update your will for months but haven’t had time to meet with your attorney. 

You have heard how helpful artificial intelligence (AI) can be in performing tasks, so you ask an AI chatbot about making a basic will. Before you know it, you’re asking about family conflict and disinheriting someone. Eventually, you paste in something sensitive — a memo from your attorney — and ask the AI to explain it “in plain English.” 

That convenience comes with a hidden risk: You may be creating a detailed digital record about your private intentions. Unlike a conversation with your attorney, that record may not be confidential — and in the wrong situation, it could be requested and used later in a dispute.

Haven't filed your beneficial owner report? Well, if you’re a US Company, it looks like (as of now) you won’t have to.

Everyone should have a durable power of attorney in place that appoints someone to act for them if they become unable to do so. However, in some circumstances, this legal document may not be enough. In these cases, setting up a revocable trust can help.

Most of us spend little time thinking about death or losing the capacity to manage our own affairs. These are unpleasant topics and banishing them from our minds is easier than entertaining them. Death, however, is inevitable and becoming incapacitated is not likely, but possible.

What would happen if you could no longer handle your finances or communicate your health care decisions? Who would make important decisions for you about these kinds of things or manage and distribute your assets after you die? These are some of the underlying questions in estate planning.

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has released its tax inflation adjustment figures for tax year 2025.

A business may be required to report under the CTA even if it is a business that is not required to report for Federal income tax purposes (such as a single-member LLC), and even if it was formed to hold specific property, such as real estate, and does not conduct any active business.

With the arrival of the new year, revisions to the annual gift tax and estate tax exclusions will be going into effect, as recently announced by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).

Most estate planning attorneys can help you craft an estate plan that minimizes or avoids probate altogether. Probate proceedings are part of the public record and can be very time-consuming and expensive. However, in nearly every case, to some extent probate is necessary. So, it’s important to understand how to navigate the process.

The Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement (SECURE) Act, which went into effect in 2020, changed how beneficiaries of inherited retirement accounts must withdraw these funds. The Act’s passage made it more difficult for individuals to pass their retirement savings on to their heirs without tax liability.

1. Buy enough life insurance. A parent is irreplaceable, but someone will have to fill in if the worst happens. It may be siblings or other relatives. In all likelihood, that family will have to pay for at least some services the parent or parents had provided when able. If the estate is not large enough for this purpose, it can be made large enough through life insurance proceeds. Premiums for second-to-die insurance (which pays off only when the second of two parents passes away) can be surprisingly low.

2. Set up a trust. Any funds left for a child with special needs, whether from an estate or the proceeds of a life insurance policy, should be held in trust for his or her benefit. Leaving money for anyone with a special need jeopardizes public benefits. Many people with special needs cannot manage funds, especially large amounts. Some families disinherit children with special needs, relying on their siblings to care for them. This approach is fraught with potential problems. Siblings can be sued, get divorced, disagree on their responsibilities, or run off with the funds. It can also cause tax problems for the siblings. The best approach is a trust fund set aside for the child with special needs.

The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) took effect on Jan. 1, 2018, and impacted personal income taxes, small businesses, estate tax rules, capital gains rules, special needs accounts, and much more. The TCJA is scheduled to sunset at the end of 2025. This will lead to significant changes for taxpayers. So, are there ways to avoid potential tax impacts to you or your loved ones? Read on to learn more.

In the wake of the pandemic, rising inflation, mass shooting tragedies, and other events, more people recognize that they need to plan for the future. Yet while financial planning has been at the top of many Americans’ minds, a vast majority of people have stalled in creating an estate plan.

According to a new study completed by Caring.com, a mere one in three people has an estate plan in place. Worse yet, more than 40 percent of those without a will report that they wouldn’t create one until they had encountered a serious health concern.

One aspect of your estate plan that you may not yet have taken into consideration is your digital legacy. Arranging what happens to your digital assets and information when you pass away has become an increasingly essential component of financial literacy — and comprehensive estate planning.

The Senate and House have cleared the passage of a year-end $1.7 trillion appropriations bill that will affect people with disabilities on several fronts.

The bill, which runs more than 4,000 pages and includes a wide variety of legislation, heads to President Biden next for his signoff.

The IRS recently announced inflation-adjusted changes to the annual gift tax annual and estate tax exclusions for 2023.

Elder law and estate planning serve two different -- but equally vital -- functions. The main difference is that elder law is focused on preserving your assets during your lifetime, while estate planning concentrates on what happens to your assets after you die.