A Debt Free Retirement Plan

One of the secrets to a financially secure retirement is becoming debt free, at least as free of debt as possible. When you go into retirement with a large mortgage payment and credit card debt, chances are your will be stretching your income to the limits just to make ends meet.

Although retirees of past generations also made it a goal to become debt free before they reached the age of retirement, they were far more successful than today's seniors. A bad economy and modern lifestyles have made it very difficult to pay off debt before retirement, but it is still possible with enough planning and budgeting.

The first thing you need to do to ensure a financially secure retirement is to have some type of retirement plan. Your plan should include investing and saving so that you will have more money to live on when you do retire. Though you will likely receive Social Security, in most cases the amount that you will get will be too little to get you through retirement. If your employer offers a 401k, take advantage of this retirement savings tool, plus you may want to put money away in an IRA account. There are several ways in which you can invest for retirement; to find out what method would be best for your particular situation you will want to consult with a professional financial planner.

The second part of your retirement plan should be a strategy to become debt free by the time you are ready to retire. To do this you will need to budget. Find as many ways that you can to cut your expenses within reason. Of course you don't want to live a substandard life now in order to have money when you retire, but there are a number of ways to cut expenses that shouldn't affect your current lifestyle to a great extent.

You will next want to make use of all of this extra money you are saving by paying down your mortgage and ridding yourself of other unnecessary debt, such as credit cards, auto loans, etc. If possible, keep only one credit card and make sure it is paid down each month. Avoid impulse buying by making it a habit of waiting a week or two before making any large purchases. The better you budget and plan now, the happier you will be when it comes time to retire.

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Probate Laws and Your Estate

A brief reference to estate planning and probate law as it relates to personal trusts and estates, and the effect probate has on estate taxes.

Estate planning is sometimes an uncomfortable topic of conversation when one is referring to probate law, and when speaking about probate at all, you begin to refer to the estates of either those who are recently deceased or those who are unable to handle their own assets while still yet considered living. Probate law can be a real hassle without the right authority helping to guide you through your legal dilemma, and there are few ways around actually contacting a lawyer, someone who will look out for your interests. A good place to start looking would be with a search engine on the internet.

Planning for your estate in advance can save much hassle on behalf of those who are handling your estate for you once that task becomes too great an inconvenience, there are many details that easily become too much for one person to handle alone, and assigning a worthwhile lawyer to the task can quickly become difficult to manage if someone doesn't come to mind right away. Perhaps looking into a relative's trusts and estates after contacting the right personal authority may spread some insight into the overall view, as both financial and integral damage to the foundation of both family, and the friendly relationship surrounding after death can be a devastating blow.

Estate taxes can quickly get out of hand if one were to dive into their estate planning without thinking ahead, and sometimes a person can be overcome by anxieties over these vital issues enough not taking a breath in to realize what is going on around themselves. Taking the time to confront the need for help might be scary enough as it is, but everyone should take the time to absorb the information that could mean the difference in getting out of probate after passing away, or the dark end of long battles.

Timing is essential to the way in which one's trusts and estates will make the most sense, there is never an easy guarantee that makes probate law a simple concept to confront, but there is some idea of hope when preparing for a distinct opinion that makes sense for you. Personal preference when navigating the concepts of trusts and estates can be a gut instinct, whether you happen to have stock in the success of a small business, or pursue some kind of personal retirement fund. There is always a time to consider trusts and the probate laws to will apply after steps to revive may have failed.

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How to Select an Executor for My Last Will

Once you have decided to create your will, picking your executor is the next most important step.

Your executor is the person who will manage all your affairs once you have passed away. These duties include working through the Probate Court process, the settlement of all your debts, the payment of any estate taxes, and managing the distribution of your assets to each of your beneficiaries.

As you can see, you need to pick your executor very carefully. Some attributes to look for is someone that:

You trust implicitly Is well organized Understands commitment Appreciates deadlines And has the patience of a mother and the tenacity of a master sergeant

Should I pick a family member?

Great question. There are pros and cons on both sides. A family member may know your wishes better than anyone. That said, appointing a family member may also create a conflict of interest. The family member executor has complete control over your assets and could conceivably manipulate the distribution of assets to his /her benefit. There are lots of horror stories were the executor either misappropriated or ran off with the money.

Does the executor get paid?

The laws vary from state to state and some states set a cap on fees.

Hot tip: In my case, I have identified two executors to my estate. One is my business partner and one is a close family friend. They both know the spirit, intent, and goals I have outlined in my will. Also they (and their spouse) are the beneficiary of a 10-day cruise of their choice anywhere in the world as my way of thanking them for taking care of my affairs once I am gone.

Can the executor ask for help?

Absolutely. The attorney that helped draw up your will would be a good place to start. As an example, there have been recent changes to the estate tax code that can greatly benefit the surviving spouse, but (there always a 'but') the executor must file the needed paperwork within nine months of your death. Rather than having the executor trying to figure that all out, go find an estate lawyer you trust.

The Take-Away

Picking an executor is extremely important and there are several parameters to consider when selecting yours. Family members may or may not be the best qualified. At the end of the day is comes down to one simple word-integrity. Don't pick with your heart, go with your gut. You will be pleased when you do.

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Why Everyone Should Make a Will

Your last will and testament, everyone should have one but you would be surprised at the large percentage of people who do not even consider making any preparations for when they have gone. In 2011 it was estimated that around 70 percent of UK adults had not written a will of any sort. This can cause a myriad of problems and is called dying intestate. If you die intestate, your estate will divided in accordance with the law, even though you may have intimated your wishes to those close to you. Death can affect people in many different and out of character ways. It is difficult for a grieving individual to think clearly and it is at a time like this a will would help greatly to stop any family squabbles which invariably ensue as to who gets what. On many occasions families can be split after a death and can fight bitterly over heirlooms and monies which different people perceive to be theirs.

If you want your family to have as stress free a time as possible after your death then you need to make a will which is legally binding and made through a specialist lawyer.

There are many companies which have sprung up online which profess to help you write wills. Often these individuals have no legal training whatsoever and if you are looking to make a will which has different clauses within it they will certainly not be qualified to help and advise you on the legalities of your situation. Alternatively some individuals elect to write their own wills. Again it is always better to ensure that your family are provided for in the way in which you intend them to be by taking legal advice on your will. Will lawyers charge a relatively small amount of money to write your will and you will be able to relax in the knowledge that you have a legal document which will stand up to scrutiny in years to come.

Writing a will is especially important if you are living with a civil partner or if you have a few children and you wish your estate to be divided in a certain way. There is a myriad of reasons as to why you would need a will written especially in these modern times of second marriages and step children. Your specialist wills solicitor will be the person to help and advise you under these circumstances and they will also be able to advise at to whether there are any taxes such as inheritance tax for your survivors to pay.

To conclude, although many people see it as a very morbid and stressful thing to do, this needs to be transcended as dying intestate will potentially cause the loved ones who survive you a great deal of pain and worry. Make sure that you put your final instructions down on paper with a good lawyer. You and your loved ones will then have peace of mind for years to come.

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Choosing A Good Firm To Write Wills Online

The Internet did bring to the world ease and convenience in doing almost anything. Even those things that people often consider unnecessary and even fearful. Today, close to anything can be done online, from talking to family and friends to banking, shopping, studying, dating, and now even writing wills online.

The Internet brought the human race ease and convenience in doing things that it otherwise considered unnecessary, difficult, or impossible to do. From communicating, to shopping, banking, studying, dating, and even writing personal wills.

Writing someone's will and testament is one of the things that even though very important, often are put off repeatedly due to fear, cost, and lack of the necessary professionals to do it. Writing online wills makes it such that the whole process is done at the comfort of someone's home or office, at the hour of their choosing.

Writing a will has been feared and put off due to high costs. Wills are very important, even if one does not 'plan' to depart soon. Doing all of this online makes it much easier to deal with the whole process since it is carried out at the comfort of home or office at the most convenient time for anyone.

Writing wills online beats the traditional way of going to a physical office and that takes the load off the complete legal process too. Wills are legal documents and well recognized by law. The writing of wills online does produce legal wills that are indeed as binding as the wills written in an office.

The process of writing wills online is but a standard online affair. Much like any online transaction, it involves selecting an online will company, creating an account there, filling a questionnaire, and finally selecting a payment mode.

One of the main advantages other than convenience is the cost. Hourly rates for lawyers and solicitors can total in the hundreds per hour and in many cases, much of this work can be done by you. Writing wills online means that no one is billed for office hours spent making the will and does not need to keep paying appointment fees every time he or she wishes to make some changes.

The main difference however is much more evident in cost. Writing wills online does not require the person to go to a solicitor's office and be billed by the hour, suffer appointment fees, and other similar fates. Writing wills online will only call for one fee that is clearly indicated upfront.

Working With Estate and Wills Lawyers - What You Need To Know   Estate Planning: Secure Your Loved Ones' Futures   The Whole Story About Last Wills and Testaments   A Living Will - Your Medical Directive   Avoid Will and Trust Litigation the Right Way   An Intro Into Properties Planning   

Creating Medical Power of Attorney for Your Children

Most of the times parents have to take decisions associated with medical care of the children. But some parents may have to leave the children for an extensive period of time which makes it necessary to keep a medical power of attorney. According to the legal document, the parents are authorizing another adult to take decisions based on the medical care for their child during the absence of the parent. In case of any emergency, you can avoid unnecessary delays in the treatment of your child by giving the responsibility of their medical care to an agent.

Health care providers perform whatever emergency treatment required for stabilizing the child in case of any emergency, but some other procedures should need the consent of the parent. The importance of medical power of attorney is relevant in such cases so that if the parent is unavailable to provide consent to do the procedures necessary for the child's life, then the designated agent should take decisions or actions. Agent with personal values and religious beliefs similar to that of the principal is recommended by the medical association. Religious beliefs play an important role while selecting an agent as some religions does not allow medical treatments for their believers. If you select an agent with similar beliefs, then you can protect the child as per your wish.

While selecting an agent, the parents have to remember certain things. The agent should not be the health-care provider of the child, home-care provider of the child, an employee of residential-care provider of the child or an employee of health-care provider of the child. These exclusions should be made while selecting the agent so that you can make sure that your child gets the best treatment. The execution of medical power of attorney varies from one state to another because some state insists that you should sign the document before the notary public whereas other state recommends that parent should sign the document in front of one witness as well as the notary public.

The medical power of attorney for your child can be revoked at point of time by the parent. In order to revoke the document, the only thing that has to do is that the principal should intimate the agent or the health care provider of the child in writing. Automatic revocation occurs when the principal execute another medical power of attorney with another agent for his/her child. When the new document becomes effective, the old legal document naturally expires. If you any doubt regarding this legal document, you can take the legal advice of a well experienced attorney and it is always better to hire an attorney to get the draft of the document. This is considered as the non-durable power of attorney because of the limited time period and scope of this legal document.

Working With Estate and Wills Lawyers - What You Need To Know   Estate Planning: Secure Your Loved Ones' Futures   The Whole Story About Last Wills and Testaments   A Living Will - Your Medical Directive