Estate Planning

Losing a parent is never easy. In blended families, it can be even harder when questions about inheritance come up. Stepchildren and biological children may not always see things the same way, especially if plans are not clear.  In Oregon, the law does not...

Some people neglect estate planning when they’re young. Say that you’re 30 years old and you and your spouse just had your first child. You know that you need an estate plan eventually, but you assume that you will live into your 70s, so you still have 40+ years to...

Leaving a gift to charity in your estate plan is an effective way to support causes you care about. In Oregon, you have several options for including charitable giving in your plan. If you want to make charitable giving a part of your legacy, here are some important...

If you have a minor child, you need to plan for the possibility of being unable to raise them to adulthood – you may become incapacitated or die before they turn 18 years old. Therefore, you need to choose someone who will take care of them (a guardian). Since the...

There are many things that people have to do when they lose a loved one. One of these is handling that person’s final affairs. Some individuals may not realize what that entails.  When a person creates an estate plan, they name an administrator who takes care of many...

Estate planning is an important step in the journey towards protecting your assets and working to better ensure that your wishes are carried out after your passing. While online estate planning templates may seem like a convenient and cost-effective solution, they are...

Creating your estate plan requires you to take a complete inventory of assets you own. Once you have this, you can determine which of those assets you want to give to specific beneficiaries. Next, you have to determine the way you will accomplish this.  Some people...

Many adults don’t look forward to creating an estate plan, so they may not think about taking the time to update it once it’s done. Unfortunately, failing to update the plan could mean that it no longer reflects your wishes.  Most people should take the time to review...

Most children have an idea they will inherit from their parents. Yet their idea of what or how much they will inherit could be very far from reality. A child whose parents have always lived frugally might assume they won’t inherit much. They might not know their...

If you ask three Americans whether they have an estate plan, studies suggest only one will say yes. The other two will admit they haven’t drafted a will or any other estate planning documents. While they may agree that estate planning is important, they still haven’t...