Parents often experience sibling rivalry when their children are young. Ideally, the children outgrow this as they get older and go on to have a strong relationship. But this isn’t always the case. In some situations, sibling rivalry will last into adulthood. It may...
Homeowners sometimes can’t afford to make their mortgage payments, but they can’t get out from under their home easily because they owe more than the home is worth. One option that might work in these cases is to sell the home as a short sale. A short sale occurs when...
You’re ready to sell your home – but you have a problem: You need the money from the sale to set up in a new place. Since many homeowners have the vast majority of their money tied up in their property, this isn’t an uncommon issue. Even if you intend to rent, it can...
A life estate is a legal arrangement that allows property ownership to be divided between two parties: the life tenant who creates the life estate and the remainderman. Such an arrangement can be beneficial for many, enabling them to retain use of the property while...
Estate planning is associated with several myths. And one of them is that one has to be rich to have a will. It's not uncommon for people to postpone estate planning because they believe their estate is not "big enough." So, how wealthy should one be to draft an...
Earlier this year, a new federal law went into effect, requiring many businesses to disclose information about their owners and report it to the Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, or FinCEN. Once filed, the information then goes into the...
If you are in a committed relationship with a partner but have no plans to marry, you’ll need to take some important estate planning steps if you want to ensure that they’re able to inherit any of the assets that the two of you don’t jointly own. They’ll need to do...
Business partnerships provide a multitude of benefits for everyone involved. Although they require sharing the profits, responsibilities and expenses are also divided. In an ideal partnership, each person brings unique skills and expertise to grow the business....
A lot of people make the mistake of thinking that estate planning is only about leaving assets to loved ones. While this certainly makes up a significant part of the estate planning process, it’s not the only issue that you need to take into consideration. You should...
Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) approaches allow those who are involved in disputes to potentially reach a resolution to their issues while avoiding the costs, stress and “winner-take-all” risk of litigation. When utilized thoughtfully in informed and supported...
