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Recent Blog Posts
Time to Consider a Cohabitation Agreement?
Statics show that an increase in couples are making the decision to cohabitate instead of getting married. According to the National Center for Health Statistics, between the years 2006 to 2010, half of the women who got married lived with their partner before they wed.
The Center's data also revealed that forty percent of the women wed their significant other within three years, but another 27 percent of cohabitation relationships dissolved within five years. And one in five women become pregnant during the first year of living with their partner.
The Correlation between Illness and Divorce
When two people get married, their vows may include to love "in sickness and in health," "for richer or poorer," or perhaps the most famous, "till death do us part." Yet there are always stories throughout various media outlets illustrating how marriages can end after a few short hours, especially when celebrities are involved. However, based on the findings of a recent Health and Retirement study, serious illness can be a major contributing factor when it comes to divorce.
As reported by the The Huffington Post, a Health and Retirement study was conducted between the years of 1992 and 2010 and was comprised of 2,717 married couples. The main focus of the study centered on couples who had two healthy spouses. The study thus measured how the marriages progressed when a spouse fell sick with a serious illnesses. And by the conclusion of the study, 47 percent of the couples were impacted by a new illness.
The Most Common Estate Planning Needs for Couples
The practice of estate planning is a prudent decision at any age or stage of life, but many people consider beginning that process when they start a family. There are several common goals that couples tend to have with regard to the estate planning process.
The first goal is to provide for their loved ones and family members. If both spouses pass away or become otherwise incapacitated, an estate plan can outline the plans for how loved ones are protected. Whether it is minor children, other relatives, or even pets, all of these individuals can be protected with the proper estate planning tools.
Avoiding Divorce Mistakes: Beware of Illiquid Assets
Hiring an attorney to help you understand a truly fair division of assets in divorce is definitely in your best interest. One of the most common scenarios for a divorcing couple is that one spouse gets the house and the other receives the assets in savings, retirement accounts, and brokerage accounts.
Financial advisor Ted Jenkin notes that while on paper this may seem fair, it can actually leave one spouse in a sticky situation. And when looking at math alone, this split may very well appear fair. If cash flow is a problem, however, the spouse with the paper assets in the house may have trouble unloading that asset and getting access to the funds quickly.
Options for Inherited IRAs
Individual Retirement Accounts (IRA) are savings accounts that allow people to save up for their retirement, either tax-free or tax-deferred. Even though funds are accessible at any time, early withdrawal results in penalties. However, there are some exceptions.
Spouses who inherit an IRA have choices to make regarding what to do with those funds. A spouse can either combine it with their own IRA or can move it into an inherited IRA. Financial planners advise the spouse to make that decision based on their age and the deceased spouse's age.
Back to Basics: Crucial Estate Plan Components
Most people recognize that a will is a cornerstone of estate planning, but they might fail to include three other important documents: a durable power of attorney for financial needs, a living will, and a durable power of attorney for healthcare.
The best way to ensure your plans for the future are aligned properly is to have all four of these documents drafted by an estate planning attorney. Individuals who attempt to cut corners by putting these documents together themselves might not realize the mistakes they are making which expose them and their heirs to risk or extended probate.
Exploring Government-Funded Programs & Divorce Rates
The Department of Health and Human Services has spent a lot of money to research family stability and marriage, and the results of their most recent project are now available. The Supporting Healthy Marriages Study explored whether skills training influenced divorce rates for low-income couples, and the results were mixed.
Estate Planning with Minor Children
When many people think of estate planning, they picture it as being something that senior citizens do as a way to ensure their wishes are carried out regarding how their assets should be divided among their adult children and other beneficiaries.
The first account is a basic savings account. Children can deposit gift money they receive and allowance money. One important item to keep in mind about savings accounts is how they affect college financial aid. Currently, a child can have up to $3,000 in a bank account that bears their name without those funds effecting how much aid for which they are eligible.
New Divorce App Helps Weigh Pros and Cons of Divorcing Your Spouse
A Minnesota family law attorney has developed a new divorce app to help The Grass is Greener and is available for both iPhones and Android phones.
This divorce app is set up as a multiple-choice test, with 39 questions. The quiz starts out with questions about what was it that made you fall in love with your spouse and is it still there; what are the most troubling aspects of your relationship and how many times have you thought about leaving.
It continues by asking what the best and the worst things about staying would be; what things would you need in order to stay; what would be the best and worst things about leaving be; and what the positive aspects that your spouse offers are. The next section asks several questions about making it on your own. The last part of the quiz deals with questions about the future and how it would be with or without your spouse. Instead of results, the quiz then gives you a list of "referrals" and resources. Under marriage maintenance, there is a list of links to different articles that may help put the spark back in your marriage, including a list of snow removal, handyman, bookkeeping and remodeling services, in case part of the issue with your spouse is lack of time together. Under financial, there is a list of links that can help deal with the financial impact that divorce can have. There is also a menu of links under a career section that offers advice for women who may be heading out into the workforce post-divorce, after being a stay-at-home mom during the marriage. And there are links under counseling, legal, anger and sex categories. About halfway through the quiz, there are is a question about domestic violence and whether or not the person taking the quiz is a victim of abuse. If the answer is yes, the quiz immediately takes the person right to the results section, where it provides a list of referrals to safely escape the dangerous situation of domestic violence. If you are considering a divorce, contact an experienced DuPage County family law attorney to help navigate you through what can be a very complicated and emotional process.
Living Wills become More Popular in Estate Planning Choices
Many people are under the misconception that estate planning is only for the rich and the elderly. In estate planning, an estate is not a large mansion, but it is actually everything a person owns when they die. Personal property, bank accounts, their home or other property, digital information, stocks, retirement plans, and business ownership all fall under the domain of a person's estate.
- Who are the loved ones you want to provide for?
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