Tagged: trusts

…Death does not operate on a schedule. It doesn’t matter what plans we have set forth for a particular day, week or month – death usually does not make an appointment. The same is true for people in Palm Beach and all over the United States, all over the world for that matter.

…A new national study conducted by researchers at Ohio State University’s Center for Human Resource Research found that adults who receive an inheritance save approximately half. The remainder is spent, donated or lost.

For many retailers and others who stand to benefit from those who spend or mishandle monetary legacies, that statistic bodes well.

…An 81 year-old woman who won a whopping $336.4 million Powerball jackpot this week accepted the sum under the name Rainbow Sherbet Trust. She claimed a total of $210 million distributed in one lump payout.

The trust was so named because a family member’s craving for ice cream led to the purchase of the lucky lottery ticket.

The recent and tragic death of Whitney Houston has sparked many conversations about her life and accomplishments. One such conversation is whether or not she had a sufficient estate plan given the size of her estate. Often, people with sizable estates use trusts to control when and how their wealth is distributed.

…When a 48-year-old multimillionaire from Palm Beach, Florida decided to adopt his 42-year-old girlfriend, the decision definitely turned heads. While the choice may be suspect from the perspective of adoption law, the move may sound more strategic from an estate planning perspective. The decision may have been made to protect a trust set aside for his children.

…Many people in Florida and elsewhere consider their pets to be members of the family. Pet owners often want to know that their furry, loved ones will be taken care of after they are gone. Commonly, pet owners ask a trusted person to care of their pet, but sometimes the caretaker changes his or her mind when it comes to taking in the pet.

…When Rosa Park’s passed away in 2005 at age 92, she had a small estate but left an enormous and indelible mark on history. Before her death, Rosa Park’s created an estate plan that assigned all of her personal belongings to a charitable organization called the Rosa and Raymond Parks Institute for Self-Development.

…Only 45 percent of Americans today have a will. So many Americans and folks in Florida lack estate planning because many people put off estate planning and because many people overcomplicate estate planning decisions to the point where a plan is not created. While estate planning can be complicated, it does not have to be.

…As the New Year starts, people in Florida should take time to review and update their estate plan. The New Year can be used to review changes in personal circumstances, the law and other factors. This post will talk about a few items to consider during the review of your will, trust and other documents that make up your estate plan.

…Animal lovers know what it means to say that their pets are part of the family. There is a special bond that is formed between animals and their owners. It doesn’t matter if it’s a dog, a cat, or even a snake. The reality is that these pets are special to their masters and so it should come as no great surprise if accommodations are made for them through proper trust planning.