Does your name appear with someone on a bank or investment account? If so, you and the other people may be joint tenants with rights of survivorship (JTEN). Indiana law refers to people sharing a JTEN account as “parties.” This article discusses why people make JTEN accounts and some hidden JTEN headaches and heartaches. WHY […]

“Fancy estate plan binders hide weak contents” should be a mantra for estate planning lawyers and their clients. We have heard clients praise the appearance of leather estate plan binders; especially binders embossed with gold lettering, Unfortunately, most of those clients pay dearly for weak estate plan is that did not address their issues adequately, […]

[See our Disclaimers page about relying on this website’s contents.] We have heard people tell us for decades that they want to “avoid probate.” They say it as if they want to avoid cancer. Most people have no idea what it is that they think they should avoid. Fewer people know that the “probate” concept […]

[See our Disclaimers page about relying on this website’s contents.] They say that the road to destruction is paved with good intentions. The saying fits procrastinators that intend to make or update estate plans involving turbulent families, but never get around to making updated plans. An estate plan procrastinator can create even more destruction by […]

[See our Disclaimers page about relying on this website’s contents.] Financial experts often say that if you die without a last will and testament, the state will decide who gets your assets. That statement is true if you die owning assets without joint owners and without naming beneficiaries of bank accounts, insurance policies, retirement plans, […]

[See our Disclaimers page about relying on this website’s contents.] This article concludes a two-part series of about joint bank accounts and other kinds of asset co-ownership (click here to read Part 1). Joint Accounts – Name Sequence Some people mistakenly think that it makes a difference whether someone’s name appears first or second on […]

[See our Disclaimers page about relying on this website’s contents.] This article is the first part of a two-part series of about joint bank accounts and other kinds of ownership of bank accounts and investments (Click here to read Part 2). We have seen many avoidable cases of error, fraud, and abuse over the years. […]

[See our Disclaimers page about relying on this website’s contents.] Many people who think of “probate” or an “estate” think of heirs arguing over a deceased person’s wealth. Thankfully, most estates are not contested and they lack Hollywood-style drama. Estate disputes usually involve unclearly worded wills or inconsistent statements about estate plan intentions from the […]

[See our Disclaimers page about relying on this website’s contents.] Divorce and remarriage causes many estate plan complications. This article describes asset problems that some remarried couples encounter and suggests ways to avoid or reduce the hardships of those problems. A remarried person’s spouse and children may differ about who should receive the person’s assets […]