| Beneficiaries -- Issues in Choosing Professional Advisers |
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| A beneficiary should ask himself whether he wants to (or can) tend to the estate himself or whether he would rather delegate the responsibility to someone else. The larger the inheritance, the more likely a beneficiary will need professional advice. A six-figure inheritance or greater will probably change many things in a beneficiary's life and he will need good advice for these changes. More... |
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| Hilton on Charity |
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| A remarkable statement about the nature of charity entered the public domain after hotel chain founder Conrad N. Hilton died on January 3, 1979, in Santa Monica, California. As the founder and head of Hilton hotels, Mr. Hilton was a very financially-rich man. A portion of his will revealed that he had begun to measure the riches of a man or woman in other ways. In his will, Mr. Hilton bequeathed property to the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation. He also described the nature of charity as follows.More... |
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| Limited Inheritance in Unusual Circumstances |
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| State statutes of descent and distribution are usually supplemented by other statutes or court rulings that limit or prohibit inheritance in unusual circumstances. This article discusses some of those unusual circumstances.More... |
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| Trust Apportionment |
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| When a trustee receives a distribution, it can be difficult to determine whether he should pay it to the beneficiary or add it to the "corpus" (the trust property). More... |
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| Co-Ownership Myths - I |
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| One of the most confusing aspects of estate planning is the numerous myths about co-ownership of property. Many people do not understand the differences between a tenancy in common and a joint tenancy with right of survivorship. Many people do not understand what a tenancy by the entirety is or was. Many people do not understand the differences between the common law forms of co-ownership and community property. Moreover, people may define their own forms of co-ownership by contract. This article discusses some of the many myths about the co-ownership of property.More... |
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