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When Rock Legends Pass Away: The Possible Fates of Meat Loaf’s $40 Million Estate

Meat Loaf, whose real name was Michael Lee Aday, passed away earlier this year at the age of seventy-four. The singer behind 1977’s Bat Out of Hell—one of the best-selling albums of all time—experienced ups and downs befitting his larger-than-life persona. He hit bottom with his 1983 bankruptcy but rode a 1990s career rebirth to newfound financial success. The musician, actor, and producer’s net worth was estimated to be $40 million at the time of his death in January 2022.

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What to Know about Nonfungible Tokens

A nonfungible token (NFT) is a unique digital code that represents a digital item such as art or music, as well as a growing number of physical items, that runs on the blockchain (a secure, decentralized, and cryptography-backed online ledger) and provides proof of ownership of virtual collectibles. That explanation may cause confusion, and when it comes to NFTs, confusion and excitement are present in equal parts. NFTs can generate new streams of revenue for creators and be a store of value for collectors. If you own NFTs or plan to invest in them, you should update your estate plan accordingly. Handing down an NFT is more complicated than passing on a physical item or other traditional asset. But with buzz building around NFTs, they could end up being among the most valuable items in your estate.

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Common Trusts: Parenting Beyond the Grave

Parents strive to make their children feel equally valued as reflected in the fact that, when setting up an estate plan, parents typically divide their accounts and property equally among their children. But while parents strive to treat their children the same, they simultaneously acknowledge that children have different needs at different times. And these needs do not always correlate with perfectly equal dollar amounts. Should something happen to you and your accounts and property pass to your minor children in equal shares, there may not be enough money for each individual child’s expenses. Almost certainly, one child will require more funds than another. Instead of simply dividing your accounts and property equally among your children, you can place accounts and property in what is known as a pot trust or common trust with instructions for your trustee on how to spend the money and property on behalf of all the beneficiaries.

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What Happens to Your Social Media Accounts at Your Death?

According to Statista, more than 295 million people in the United States use social media.[1] If you are an avid social media user, have you considered what will happen to your accounts when you die? If you have spent time creating, uploading, and sharing content, it is important to take a look now at what will happen after you pass away so you can determine your content’s future.

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Are Family Limited Partnerships Under Attack?

A popular estate planning tool that has long been used effectively may be facing new challenges under the current administration in Washington, DC. The family limited partnership (FLP) is an estate planning tool that allows families not only to transfer significant amounts of their wealth to succeeding generations while reducing estate, gift, and income tax liabilities but also to achieve several other important estate planning goals.

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What Is a Separate Revocable Living Trust?

When a couple engages in foundational estate planning, one of the first questions addressed by estate planning attorneys is whether it makes sense for the couple to use a revocable living trust (RLT) as a part of their plan. If using an RLT makes sense, an important follow-up question to married couples should be whether it makes sense for them to use a joint RLT or separate RLTs.

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Estate Planning: Answering Common Questions of Senior Citizens

According to a study conducted by Caring.com, the percentage of people aged fifty-five and older who have created a will has fallen from 60 percent to 44 percent since 2019.[1] Although creating or updating your estate planning may seem like a daunting task, a proper estate plan can help address the concerns you may face as a senior citizen. We are here to help you. 

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Estate Planning Checklist: Multigenerational Wealth Transfers

Studies estimate that 70 percent of family wealth is lost by the end of the second generation and 90 percent by the end of the third generation. To help your loved ones avoid becoming part of this statistic, you need to educate and update your extended family about your wealth transfer goals and the plan you have put in place to achieve these goals.

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Do I Have to Leave Anything to My Children?

One storyline trope in Hollywood movies is the rich father disinheriting the family outcast. The story usually traces the child’s attempts to win the father over and be considered a part of the family again. But can fiction imitate reality? Can you actually disinherit a child? The answer, in most circumstances, is yes. You can disinherit a child under most states’ laws, but you must understand the limitations and additional factors if you are considering this option.

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