Category: Wills, Trusts and Estate Planning

In 1862, Henry Budd left £200,000 in a trust for his two sons on the condition that neither grew a moustache.

Growing up in a secretive family of almost unfathomable wealth, driven to school by Pinkerton guards who took a different route each day to throw off would-be kidnappers, Ruth Lilly explored the world mostly through poetry.
As she grew, she began to write poems of her own, publishing a few, under a pseudonym. They were pretty […]

In 1967, an eccentric Arizona prospector named James Kidd was declared legally dead. He had disappeared into the desert surrounding Phoenix in 1949. Such an occurrence probably would have gone unnoticed by the papers and the public … except for a bizarre catch to the case. When the prospector disappeared, he left about $175,000 in […]

1.     Refinancing with your existing lender without shopping around. Your existing lender may not have the best rates and programs. There is a general misconception that it is easier to work with your current lender. In most cases, your current lender  will require the same documentation as other companies. This is because most loans are […]

When Onni Nurmi, a Finnish man who made money in America in the 1920s, passed away, he left dividends from 780 shares in a rubber boot company “for the recreation of the people” living in a Finnish village nursing home.
The company, Nokia, moved into electronics in the 1980s and soon became the largest manufacturer of […]

No. Life insurance is only one kind of property, which a person may own.  If a life insurance policy is payable to an individual, the will of the insured has no effect on the proceeds.  If the policy is payable to the estate of the insured, the payment of the proceeds may be directed by […]

Joint bank accounts and real property held in the names of both husband and wife with right of survivorship usually pass to the survivor by law and not by the terms of the deceased’s will.  There are many cases, however, in which it is not to your advantage to hold property in this manner. For […]

1. Looking for a home without being pre-approved. As a potential buyer competing for a property, you’ll have a better chance of getting your offer accepted by being as prepared as possible. Consider this hierarchy of preparedness:
o Neither pre-qualified nor pre-approved
o Pre-qualified
o Pre-approved
The benefits available at each level can be easily understood when viewed from the seller’s perspective. Imagine […]

It depends.  The guardianship provision is normally effective when both parents die at or about the same time.  As an example, if the husband’s will nominates his parents and the wife’s nominates her parents and both husband and wife die at or about the same time, then the court will have to decide who is […]

An executor is the person who will manage and settle your estate according to the will.  You should also consider naming a substitute executor in the event that the named executor is unable or unwilling to act as the executor of your estate.  By the wording of your will, you can require that your executor […]