Walsh & Company
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The Principal Residence and Your Estate Plan: A Quick Clinic
The principal residence often represents the largest asset in an estate. Although the sale of a residence after the owner’s death can generate a substantial cash gift for beneficiaries of the estate, in many cases the residence must still serve as the home by one or...
Planning in a Down Economy: Does Estate Plan Make Sense?
Most, if not all of us, are feeling the need to tighten our belts in the current economic climate. If we have recently bought a home or borrowed against our existing one, we may be "upside down" on our loan. Perhaps you simply are less wealthy as you see equity in...
Planning for the Disabled Spouse
One of the surprising challenges in planning for a spouse afflicted with dementia is the stark reality that should the unexpected occur and the healthy spouse predecease the disabled spouse, the disabled spouse will, in most instances, end up as the sole owner of all...
It Doesn’t Have to be a Gift to the Government: Estate Planning for Heirs with Disability
One of the prime motivating factors for estate planning is, of course, the love and concern we have for our heirs. We hope that by leaving an inheritance, our loved ones will, perhaps, have an easier time of it. Consider for a moment, however, families that have...
FACING FACTS: Talk To Your Parents About Estate Planning
It is 10:30 P.M., do you know where your children are? Are they in bed, sleeping peacefully, while you worry about ongoing issues with caring for your aging parents? If this sounds familiar, you are a card-carryingmember of the "Sandwich Generation." In caring for (or...
Why you need a will (debunking a common misconception about estate planning)
We all come to the table with certain notions about the estate planning process. Much of the time, we get our information from researching on the internet, watching finance "experts" on cable television, word-of-mouth, and perhaps even our own wild guesses that we...
Dealing with Alzheimer’s Disease
Do you know someone who has been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease? If not, there is a good chance that you will know someone afflicted with the disease during your lifetime. According to The Alzheimer’s Disease and Referral Center and The Alzheimer’s Association, at...
Charitable aspects of Estate Planning
Many of our clients have minor children, or adult children with special needs, who are dependent on the parents’ support and who would need continued financial support even after the parents were gone. For most of our clients, however, their children are grown and...
Bad will hunting
In the course of our discussions with clients, one of the more frequent comments we receive in response to our series of "what if" questions, asking about contingencies to be addressed in case something happens unexpectedly to their intended beneficiaries, is "I never...
The slayer’s rule: murder, mayhem and…public policy!?
We thought it would be interesting to take a look at a little history and perspective on a common law rule in Maryland, versions of which can be found in the legal code created by Napoleon ("Code Napoleon") and withorigins dating back to 6th century Roman law. The...