Building Legacies that Last Estate Planning and Elder Law

Creating An Effective Will

Melinda-gimpel-699368-unsplashWhat is a will? How can I create one that is effective? These two questions are very common when creating a will. A will does play a vital part in how the money or any personal property is distributed amongst future heirs. By creating an effective will, it can be helpful with planning the future. In fact, there are eight simple steps in order to create an effective will that will save you time when planning the money distribution.

  1. Decide what personal property to include in your will
  2. Decide who will inherit your estate
  3. Choose the right executor to handle your estate
  4. Choose the right guardian for your children
  5. Choose a guardian who will take care of your children’s personal property
  6. Make your will
  7. Sign your will in front of the witnesses
  8. Store your will in a safe place

With these steps, you can avoid the troubles that many celebrities like Prince and Aretha Franklin had with their estates. By having a will, you will also avoid the troubles and litigation in probate court. Create your will today!

Michelle Profit is an estate planning attorney serving Maryland and the District of Columbia. A Harvard Law School graduate, she has worked in the financial services industry for over 20 years. A dedicated advocate for all of her clients, Michelle Q. Profit personally handles each client case from start to finish to meet the client’s needs and objectives. Michelle listens in the consultation sessions and works with any other client accountants or financial planners to create a comprehensive estate plan

Creating A Good Estate Plan

Dose-media-424257-unsplashMany people these days wonder about what do I need to do before I die and what is the process. Well, the answer to those questions is: Create an Estate Plan. By creating an estate plan, it helps open up the options about money distribution in a will or trust to the heirs of your inheritance. In fact, there are 12 easy steps to follow in order to make sure that your estate plan can go smoothly without having the risk of going to probate court.

 

  1. Create a Will
  2. Consider creating a trust
  3. Make Health Care Derivatives
  4. Make A Financial Power of Attorney
  5. Protect your children’s property
  6. File Beneficiary Forms
  7. Consider having Life Insurance in place
  8. Understand any estate taxes that will be made
  9. Make sure the funeral expenses are covered
  10. Make the final arrangements
  11. Protect your business
  12. Make sure your documents are stored in a secure place

By following these steps, your estate plan will be carried out smoothly and successfully without any further negotiations. If you don’t create an estate plan, your future heirs would need to go to probate court to negotiate over your inheritance which is not good at all. Avoid going to probate court and create an estate plan today!

Michelle Profit is an estate planning attorney serving Maryland and the District of Columbia. A Harvard Law School graduate, she has worked in the financial services industry for over 20 years. A dedicated advocate for all of her clients, Michelle Q. Profit personally handles each client case from start to finish to meet the client’s needs and objectives. Michelle listens in the consultation sessions and works with any other client accountants or financial planners to create a comprehensive estate plan.

Princess Diana’s Estate Plan

Princess Diana“Family is the most important thing in the world.” Diana, Princess of Wales, was the most beloved soul that left the world too soon. When Princess Diana died on August 31, 1997, the whole world mourned because their queen was gone and her legacy of social work was cut way too short thanks to the paparazzi. Unfortunately, Lady Diana Spencer’s failure to have a proper estate plan came into play 17 years after her death.

Along with creating a will, Diana had created a Letter of Wishes. That letter contained the fact that ¾  of her jewelry and prize possessions were to be given to her sons, Prince William and Prince Harry and the ¼ would be given to her 17 godchildren. Unfortunately, this letter was not recognized and her godchildren only received one item of Diana’s estate. This letter went undisclosed for several years until it was revealed due to the outrage of the parents of the godchildren who were supposed to receive the ¼ of Diana’s estate.

According to the executors of her estate, they had filed a “variance” after her death which was supposed to distribute the money to her sons until they turned 30 which of course did not occur.

In Diana’s case, Personal Property that is valuable and important should be directly in a will or trust. Not a letter. If Diana had done this in her estate plan, there would be no questions about what the deceased individual wanted. Also, there would have been no variances. Even though Diana was the beloved princess of the world, by making the mistakes and causing much havoc in her family, her estate plan ended up in turmoil.

Michelle Profit is an estate planning attorney serving Maryland and the District of Columbia. A Harvard Law School graduate, she has worked in the financial services industry for over 20 years. A dedicated advocate for all of her clients, Michelle Q. Profit personally handles each client case from start to finish to meet the client’s needs and objectives. Michelle listens in the consultation sessions and works with any other client accountants or financial planners to create a comprehensive estate plan.

 

 

Sonny Bono’s Estate Plan

Sonny and Cher“I’ve got you babe.” Those were the words that the beloved Sonny Bono said to Cher in 1965, 33 years before his tragic death in 1998 from a ski accident. Salvatore “Sonny” Bono was a comedian, a father, a singer, and also a congressman who appealed to to the younger generations as a figure of American singer- songwriters. His fame skyrocketed after he married his second wife, Cher in 1964 and produced a show, “The Sonny and Cher Show,” which featured even their own daughter Chaz(Formerly: Chastity) Bono, who is now a man.

Along with his career, his death also sparked some difficulty. Since he died without a will, his estate was even up for grabs, even for his second wife Cher. Cher sued Sonny’s fourth wife, Mary Bono, and the estate for $1.6 million dollars that was in unpaid alimony. That money consisted of: $25,000 per month for six months, $1,500 per month for child support, and $41,000 in attorney fees. Whether or not Cher collected this money is up for debate even to this day.

By not creating his will, Sonny’s legacy suffered drastically. It was all filled with legal fees and like before it is now up for grabs. Don’t make the same mistake that Sonny did. Create an estate plan.

Michelle Profit is an estate planning attorney serving Maryland and the District of Columbia. A Harvard Law School graduate, she has worked in the financial services industry for over 20 years. A dedicated advocate for all of her clients, Michelle Q. Profit personally handles each client case from start to finish to meet the client’s needs and objectives. Michelle listens in the consultation sessions and works with any other client accountants or financial planners to create a comprehensive estate plan.