If you’ve written a will, you may feel like your estate is now protected. However, while that is true for your current situation, it’s not necessarily the case for the future. Your will needs to be updated regularly because your life, and your estate, is likely to change. Here are a few reasons why it’s... read more
Being self-employed has many benefits. You get to set your own hours, decide what clients you take on, and much more. You’re the boss, and at the end of the day, all decisions are yours. However, there are some downsides to self-employment. If you’ve ever tried to apply for a mortgage, for example, you know... read more
For many people, the cost of unexpected medical procedures can quickly wipe out any savings and leave them facing an unsurmountable mountain of debt. Medical debt is one of the reasons why people often consider bankruptcy, especially when hospitals and other medical facilities are threatening to send them to collections. How useful is bankruptcy for... read more
One of the most difficult parts of estate planning, for some people, is determining how to divide their assets. If you have very few assets or know that your heirs will be in agreement over how you divide things up, you may not worry too much about it. However, if you have a large number... read more
If you have children, you likely plan on leaving your estate to them when you die. What do you do, though, if you have no children and are not married at the time of your death? You may not know who to leave your estate to, but there are a number of different options. Leave... read more
Over the past year, the COVID-19 global pandemic has affected billions of people around the world. Many of these people have lost their jobs and have faced being evicted or having their home foreclosed upon. This has led many people to wonder if it’s time to declare bankruptcy. However, before you do, there are a... read more
If you accidentally make a mistake on your bankruptcy forms or forgot an asset, it may delay your case, but it won’t send you to jail or get you fined. However, if you intentionally leave out assets or other information that impacts your case, you can be found guilty of bankruptcy fraud. This is a... read more
One of the phrases you may hear when learning about estate planning is dead hand control. This morbid sounding phrase may make you think of a mummy, but it actually has to do with how your assets are handled by your heirs. Dead hand control allows, to some extent, for you to dictate when your... read more
If you’re going through a bankruptcy, you may be under the false impression that any debt you incur will be wiped away. That’s not the case, especially if you’re filing Chapter 13 and reorganizing your debt. If you do decide to go on a spending spree either right before or during your bankruptcy, the court... read more
Creating a trust is one way of ensuring that your heirs are taken care of and that at least some of your assets do not go through probate. Trusts also have some tax benefits and give you some control over how your heirs use their inheritance. If you are married, you and your spouse could... read more