Forbes addresses 7 common estate planning mistakes. To me the highlights are:

1. Not having a plan. This is self explanatory.

2. Using an on-line or DIY service instead of a professional. Estate planning lawyers of years of experience to guide clients and help them make wise choices.

3. Not reviewing beneficiary designations to ensure that they meet current wishes and plans.

4. Leaving assets outright to adult children who might not handle them responsibly or who might not need them.

Because women live longer than men, they have differing financial and estate planning needs. Specifically, they should address the following issues:

1. They need to save more money for their longer lifespans.
2. If married, their spouse should use the joint life option for pension benefits.
3. They should consider the purchase of long term care insurance to pay for nursing home expenses.

This sounds like either a late April Fool’s joke or a solution for estate planners declining revenues.  After several UK residents had difficulty accessing the on-line accounts of a deceased relative, people have started including account passwords in their wills.  Because wills are public record, this solution seems worse than the problem.  Of course, attorneys would remain very busy if they revised wills every time someone changed a password.

The better practice is to empower the executor to access the accounts.  Additionally, a list of the passwords should be kept somewhere accessible after death.

Inherited IRAs survived a Congressional proposal to limit their duration to 5 years rather than the life expectancy of the beneficiary.

There are several issues that arise for the beneficiary:

1.  The rules for trusts receiving the benefits must be strictly complied with.  The advisor in the article has a more negative take on trusts as beneficiaries than I do.   The benefits of trusts as beneficiaries can be great and the compliance is not that difficult.

2.  Inherited IRAs should be re-titled after death to read:  “William Smith, Deceased (date of death) IRA F/B/O James Smith, Beneficiary.

The Foxbusiness expert whiffed on advising a couple with children with drug problems. Sure, showing them a revised will that excludes them might make them stop using drugs, but the distant inheritance is most likely not an immediate incentive and eventually they will be disinherited and still have a drug problem.

I prefer using a trust to hold their inheritance with the stipulation that it can not be disbursed until they are clean. I also would provide that their share can be used to pay for treatment programs. This type of provision is too complicated to administer solely through a will.

I prefer using a trust to hold their inheritance with the stipulation that it can not be disbursed until they are clean. I also would provide that their share can be used to pay for treatment programs. This type of provision is too complicated to administer solely through a will.