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According to a 2019 survey conducted by the Pew Research Center, 7 percent of surveyed adults were living with an unmarried partner, up from 3 percent in 1995.[1] More people are entering long-term, committed relationships without getting married. Unfortunately, state and federal laws do not protect unmarried couples as they do married couples when it comes to inheritance, taxes, and decision-making powers. Therefore, it is important that you engage in comprehensive financial and estate planning, …

Though many people are familiar with life insurance policies and have a general understanding of how they work, the process of selling a life insurance policy to a third party may be less commonly understood. When an insured party sells a life insurance policy to a third party investor, the transaction is called a life settlement.   How Life Settlements Work  Though the idea is counterintuitive to many people, life insurance policies are considered property and therefore can be bought …

Timeshares have come a long way since they first arrived in the real estate market back in the ’70s. In the early days of timeshare ownership, high-pressure sales tactics, exceedingly vague contracts, and inflexible scheduling policies caused many people to quickly regret such purchases. Over time, however, timeshares have become more consumer-friendly with greater transparency in the terms of the contract, more flexibility in scheduling timeshare weeks, more diversity in the location of the vacation …

A critical question to ask yourself when creating an estate plan is who will get your assets when you pass on? While most people think about who they would like to receive the major items—homes, retirement accounts, savings—personal property such as jewelry, clothing, sports equipment, vehicles, and other possessions are often overlooked. The truth is that while some mementos and sentimental items may be very valuable to you, the people that you want to give …

When an individual passes away, tax issues are one of the many things that must be considered. For most individuals who pass away, a final income tax return must be filed with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and state (if the particular state also taxes income) to settle any income tax liability that may exist. Much less commonly, a federal estate tax return and state estate tax returns (if the state has an estate tax …