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For many parents and grandparents, a 529 plan is viewed only as a college savings account. Money goes in, it grows for a child or grandchild, and eventually it helps pay education expenses. But a 529 plan is also an asset with an owner, a beneficiary, and rules about who will control the account if…

Most estates and trusts are administered without any fighting in court. I want to start with that because families sometimes assume that every disagreement after a death means they need to “lawyer up” and head to court to litigate or contest the estate plan.  That is not the case. Administering an estate or trust will…

Moving to a new state involves a long checklist: changing your address, registering your vehicle, finding new doctors, updating insurance, and figuring out where everything is. Your estate plan probably is not at the top of that list. It should, however, be somewhere on the list. If you move to Colorado with a will, trust,…

When someone dies owning assets in their individual name, their family may need to go through probate before those assets can be transferred to heirs or beneficiaries. Probate is the court-supervised process for appointing someone to handle the estate, identifying assets and debts, paying valid expenses and creditor claims, and distributing what remains to the…