Waiting for the magic: AI slow to take hold in estate planning
A lot of estate planning comes down to personal interactions with clients, whether in person or on Zoom calls.
Investment/Estate Planning
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Skipping estate planning: National survey shows number of people with wills has declined
Caring.com’s 2024 Wills and Estate Planning Study reports that, for the first time since 2020, the number of Americans with a will has decreased.
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Sunsetting soon: Attorneys seeing high interest in estate tax provision as December 2025 end date nears
For some estate law attorneys who handle planning for wealthier clients, Dec. 31, 2025, is circled on their calendars.
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Reaching an agreement: Prenups more common as couples look to protect assets
Prenups have become more popular in recent years as people look to protect their assets in the event their marriages don’t work out.
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From planning to administration: For attorneys, families, death is not the end of the estate planning process
Estate planning can mean many things. But one aspect not spoken about quite as much as planning is what happens when a loved one dies and their will actually goes into effect.
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Articles
Web exclusive: Indiana legislators try to smooth out a few wrinkles in probate law
House Bill 1088 came out of recommendations from an interim summer study committee.
Brian Hewitt: You don’t need hindsight to protect the will you drafted
When the little voice in the back of your head says “something about this doesn’t feel right,” listen to it!
State retirement oversight board removes BlackRock from portfolio for ESG violations
The state’s public retirement oversight committee plans to remove BlackRock Inc. from its investment portfolio after a state review found the firm has participated in environmental, social, and governance, or ESG, practices.
Indiana joins lawsuit targeting ESG practices of major investment firms
Indiana has joined 10 other states in bringing a lawsuit against three of the world’s largest investment companies, with Attorney General Todd Rokita alleging the firms are illegally conspiring to manipulate energy markets.
Lorbieski: Getting attorney fees in will contests, contested guardianships
For clients, the American Rule requiring each party to pay their own attorney fees, regardless of who wins a case, can make a win feel like less of a victory. That might explain why there are so many exceptions to the American Rule.
Nichols and Retzner: Using a purpose trust in a business succession plan
The “purpose trust” should be in an estate planner’s “tool kit” and considered in a client’s business succession and charitable planning.
McCarty: Tips for general practitioners: Estate planning for the unmarried
For those of you who don’t have an active estate planning practice, Indiana Code provides multiple safeguards for surviving spouses of an intestate decedent that are not provided to a surviving unmarried partner.
Moreillon and Steele: Complex estate planning: Managing the intangibles
Estate planning seeks to provide for family members, protect assets, avoid probate, minimize tax consequences and reduce legal headaches. The same is typically true for intellectual property estate planning, but with a couple of pitfalls.
Retzner: Avoid leaving an inheritance to someone you’ve never met
Over their lifetimes and at death, parents make gifts to children under the assumption that those gifts will be the property of that child for life, no matter what.
Mueller: A case study: Postnuptial agreements in estate planning
I think I’ll title this agreement something to the effect of “(Definitely-Not-A-Postnuptial) Agreement Waiving Statutory Rights in Spouse’s Estate.”
Kile-Maxwell and Phillips: Eskenazi Health medical-legal partnership hosts wills clinic
The Medical-Legal Partnership at Eskenazi Health has been bringing health and legal professionals together since 2008 to help solve legal problems that affect health outcomes. One example of the partnership is an annual Wills and Advanced Care Planning Clinic.
Electronic wills off to slow start in Indiana: State law updated in 2021 to allow for remote witnessing, but demand remains low
It’s hard to say how popular electronic wills are in the state five years after they were initially legalized.
Jenkins, Moore: Indiana’s premortem validation statute takes effect
On July 1, Indiana will become one of only a handful of states that have a premortem validation procedure for Hoosiers’ last wills and testaments, as well as their revocable trusts.
Lawmakers rewrite, advance anti-ESG pension investment bill
Lawmakers on Wednesday stripped long sections out of a controversial bill cracking down on the state’s pension investment managers, inserting a simplified structure that would reduce the fiscal impact to zero, according to the proposal’s author.
Two schools of thought: New legislation could limit ESG investment of public retirement funds
Proposed legislation in the Indiana Legislature has put a spotlight on two schools of thought when it comes to investing public pension funds.
Public pension plan losses from bank failures seen as minor
When two tech-linked U.S. banks failed this month, among the investors who lost millions were public-sector pension funds responsible for ensuring the retirements of teachers, firefighters and other government workers.
McCarty: Estate planning and social media after a death
Have you advised your clients about what will happen to their Twitter or Instagram accounts after they die?
‘Supercharged’: Lewis Wagner combination designed to bolster firm’s probate practice
Attorneys at Hewitt Law & Mediation have combined with Lewis Wagner, effective March 1.
Retzner and Nichols: Disposing of tangible personal property in an estate plan
To make administration go smoothly, it is still important to consider disposing of tangible personal property as part of the overall estate plan and not simply “gloss over” those provisions.