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IRS data shows that affluent Americans over the age of 80 have as much wealth as those younger rich people under 50. It is to be expected that older people on average have more money than younger people.  A long life makes for more time to generate and grow wealth. In the U.S., however, a couple of trends have combined to make the elderly rich have an ever greater share of wealth compared to the younger rich than might be expected. The first of these trends is that after years of increasing, t...

A problem some estates run into is that tax laws have changed between the time when the estate plan is created and when a person dies.  This problem can be somewhat mitigated with a special kind of trust. A primary goal for many people in estate planning is to minimize any tax burdens their estate might have.  This means bringing the size of an estate down to keep it under any federal or state estate tax exemption limits. What happens if the estate tax exemption limits are lowered?

While planning for what will happen after you pass away, you need to plan for both your estate and your legacy.  The two are not autonomous. You might have heard the term "legacy planning." What that often means is a plan for your assets to go to charitable causes in your name after you pass away.  In that sense, it is a form of estate planning and an estate planning attorney can help you accomplish this goal. Your legacy, however, is different from your estate. It is important to keep that in...

Many Americans who are entering retirement age today are having to stay in the workforce longer than they hoped because they face the unexpected expenses of having to care for their elderly parents. The average American who lives to retirement age today is living much longer than people used to live after they retired.  Since the amount they saved for retirement was likely based on projections of having shorter lifespans, people are finding that they have not saved enough to meet their expense...

Life insurance can be an important estate planning tool.  If you use it, you need to make sure that you are being honest with the insurance company or you and your family could be charged with fraud. Life insurance can be extremely convenient and if you are in good health, it is not difficult to get. Since policies pay out immediately upon death, life insurance is a good way to make sure that families have disposable income after a breadwinner passes away.  It can also be used for other purpos...

Sixteen years ago today, the Islamic al-Qaeda hijacked four airplanes in suicide attacks against the United States.  A total of 2,996 people lost their lives, including 343 firefighters and paramedics and 60 police officers. Two airplanes were flown into the World Trade Center in New York City.  Another airplane hit the Pentagon just outside of Washington, D.C.

To have an otherwise valid will thrown out of probate court, it is normally necessary to prove that someone unduly influenced the testator to write the will in his or her favor.   Although this may be difficult to prove, it is not impossible. In estate law, wills are assumed to be valid if all of the legal formalities were done properly.  If the will was signed by the deceased, witnessed and notarized, then it is assumed to be valid. This is necessary because there is no way for a judge to ask...

Laws that allow doctors to prescribe lethal doses of medication to their terminally ill patients almost always leave doctors in a difficult position. For years many elder law advocates around the world have fought hard to change laws so that terminally ill people could choose to end their own lives peacefully.  As a result, many places now allow the practice by having passed what are known as "Right to Die" or "Dying with Dignity" laws. One such law recently went into effect in California. The...

Most states have a law that declares that someone who murders another person cannot inherit anything from the assets of the deceased. These are known as slayer statutes. That trick is proving who was responsible for a death. A recent estate battle in New Hampshire sounds more than a little suspicious. In 2013, John Chaskalson, a multi-millionaire, was found shot to death. Prior to his death, his grandson Nathan Carman had purchased a weapon and bullets of the same caliber as the one that shot ...

It has never been clear what exactly happens to an Alzheimer's patient's memories, but scientists might be close to a discovery. One of the enduring mysteries surrounding Alzheimer's Disease, is what happens to a person's memories when they suffer from the disease. For a long time, the prevailing view was that the disease erased the memories completely. However, there is now reason to believe that the memories are still present. The  patient just cannot recall them for some reason, according t...