In today’s digital era, estate planning extends beyond managing physical assets like property or bank accounts. With our lives increasingly conducted online, digital assets are becoming a crucial aspect of modern estate planning. This includes social media profiles, online bank accounts, digital currencies like Bitcoin, and more. But have you considered what happens to these digital assets in estate planning after you’re gone?

In the first part of this series, we discussed a unique planning tool known as a Lifetime Asset Protection Trust. Here we explain the benefits of these trusts in further detail.

As a parent, you’re likely hoping to leave your children an inheritance. In fact, doing so may be one of the motivating factors driving your life’s work. But without taking the proper precautions, the wealth you pass on is at serious risk of being accidentally lost or squandered. In some instances, an inheritance can even wind up doing your kids more harm than good.

When you think about those loved ones who’ve passed away, you probably don’t think very much—or even at all—about the “things” they’ve left you. And when they do leave something behind, what you likely cherish most about the object are the memories and feelings it evokes, not the thing itself.

WILLS, TRUSTS, HEALTH CARE directives, POWERS OF ATTORNEY, and LEGAL GUARDIAN nominations are on many of our hearts and minds as COVID-19 compels us to FACE our own FRAGILITY and MORTALITY.

While MOST people ASSUME only the uber wealthy NEED to WORRY about asset PROTECTION, those with LESS wealth and FEWER assets may be at even GREATER risk. For example, if you’re a multi-millionaire, a $50,000 judgment against you might not be that big of a burden. But for a family with a modest income, home, and savings, it could be catastrophic.

Following the DEATH of the policy HOLDER, the way in which PROCEEDS from a LIFE insurance POLICY are paid TO the BENEFICIARY (or beneficiaries) is KNOWN as the SETTLEMENT option. And you might be surprised to learn that there are a variety of settlement options available besides the most common method—a lump-sum payout.

If YOU or your PARENTS have a RETIREMENT account, (or any investment accounts for that matter) NOW is the TIME to get CONNECTED to how those ACCOUNTS are INVESTED. While you may have OUTSOURCED all of this to a BROKER in the PAST, YOU can NO longer AFFORD to ALLOW your INVESTMENTS to be made WITHOUT your clear UNDERSTANDING of exactly WHAT you are INVESTING in, HOW and whether YOUR investments ALIGN with your PLANS for the FUTURE.

NVESTING in LIFE INSURANCE is a foundational part of estate PLANNING. However, when naming your POLICY’S BENEFICIARIES, there are a number of MISTAKES you can make that could lead to potentially dire CONSEQUENCES for the very people you’re trying to PROTECT and SUPPORT.

Do your PARENTS have an estate PLAN? Is it up to DATE? No matter how RICH or POOR you or your parents are, especially in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, YOU need to be ASKING these and several other QUESTIONS. When your parents become INCAPACITATED or DIE, their AFFAIRS will become your RESPONSIBILITY , and it will be IMPOSSIBLE to ASK them to CLARIFY anything. So, if you do not know whether or not they have estate planning in place that will help you best support them, read on.

With four confirmed deaths in OHIO from CORONAVIRUS, the state has taken many PRECAUTIONS to keep the numbers from rising. COLLEGES including MIAMI UNIVERSITY and UNIVERSITY OF CINCINNATI have moved to online classes and suspended face-to-face instruction. Cincinnati’s St. Paddy’s Day Parade and the CINCINNATI RED’S Opening Day, have both been cancelled/postponed due to the coronavirus. Even huge money makers, like the NBA, have terminated their season.

Both WILLS and TRUSTS are estate planning documents that can be used to pass your WEALTH and PROPERTY to your loved ones upon your death. However, TRUSTS come with some distinct ADVANTAGES over WILLS that you should consider when creating your plan.