Trusts may be set up as part of an estate plan for several reasons. For example, a Living Trust can help with estate tax issues, help avoid probate and address certain family circumstances. A Living Trust is a Trust that is established during a lifetime. It distributes assets similar to a Will. Avoiding Probate can [...]
Everything you need to know about the wide world of digital real estate Most of us have heard of real estate before. It’s a parcel of land that you can own, as well as the structures and natural resources that come with it. So, what is digital real estate? It is the same concept, but [...]
Parents of college students know how stressful it can be to have a child away at school. Whether it’s the beginning of their university adventure or they are seasoned under-grads, it’s never too late for you to help your child with their financial and medical needs, as long as they ask for your assistance and parental [...]
Identity theft is a general term for a huge, terrible problem that affects millions of people per year. It happens when someone steals your personal information to obtain goods and services. The thieves can harm your finances and your credit, and even nullify official, hard-to-replace documents. Worse still, some costs may not be recoverable unless you [...]
Home Buyers: You Need a Closing Fraud Attack Plan It’s a stressful situation—buying a new home. The looking, the haggling, and the mere thought of moving can add up to burnout for shoppers. They put down thousands of dollars in earnest money to initiate the sale, then even larger amounts at closing to pocket the keys. That [...]
If you die without a Will, your assets will have to go through the Probate process before being distributed to your family. That could mean years of delays and substantial taxes and fees. Or, if your Will wasn’t drafted properly or is out of date, that could lead to similar Probate nightmares. 2 Years - [...]
Real Estate Housing Market 2023 – What You Need to Know The US housing market has been a wild ride for the last few years. If you’ve been keeping up with real estate market news, you know that it is difficult to make an accurate housing market forecast. But homeowners, buyers, sellers, landlords, brokers and [...]
Why Older Americans are Top Scam Targets Scammers who target the elderly seem to be all around us. You’ve likely heard about the grandparent’s scam where a caller claims to be an individual’s grandchild needing emergency cash. Another classic theme is that the individual has won a prize or giveaway. The elderly are top targets [...]
Protect Your Investments with a Solid Lease Agreement 74.4% of rental properties are owned by individual investors. Whether you have one property or have built a small real estate empire, it’s important to protect your investments by leasing them to tenants using legally sound written lease agreements. Landlord-tenant law is different in every state. As [...]
The No Surprises Act targets medical bill surprises If you’re like most Americans, “invoice” is probably your least favorite word. “Surprise invoice,” though, is on a whole different level of nightmare. If you haven’t experienced it yourself, you’ve probably at least heard of it happening to someone you know: The spine-curdling scenario of receiving an unexpected [...]
Personally Identifiable Information (PII) is unique information that can be used to link to an individual’s identity. In some cases, stolen PII can help identity thieves fraudulently access someone else’s identity. PII can include your full name, date of birth, and Social Security numbers (SSN)—which are nearly impossible to replace if they’re compromised. This is [...]
If you are renting your home, you already know about the struggles that renters face. You may have dealt with leaky pipes, A/C problems, issues with the rent, landlord/tenant arguments and more. But renters insurance might be something you have not thought much about. If you are asking questions like, “What is renters insurance? Why is renters insurance [...]
How Will Artificial Intelligence Change the Justice System? By now, many of us know a little about AI (artificial intelligence), but what does AI stand for and why is it important for us? We’ve seen films about robots and computers becoming self-aware and either trying to save or destroy the world. We’ve heard about robotic dolls, [...]
Labor laws regulate the relationship between employers and labor unions, such as the AFL-CIO. Labor laws cover topics like the right to unionize and the negotiation and enforcement of collective bargaining agreements. Employment laws regulate the relationship between an employer and individual employees and deal with issues like employment discrimination, harassment and complaints about compensation [...]
Once upon a time, it was a thrill to receive email. We enthusiastically welcomed birthday greetings and meet-up offers from friends, but today, most inboxes receive a deluge of unwanted, suspicious-looking content. Unfortunately, much of it is spam. So, it follows that consumers reported almost $8.8 billion in losses to fraudsters last year according to the Consumer Sentinel [...]
