Understanding the “Season of Giving” Pitch In this season of giving thanks for giving and giving for thanks, we should look at a financial product that is all about giving. I am speaking, of course, of annuities. An annuity is often marketed as a modern miracle: you give money to an insurance company and receive a guaranteed stream of income in return. Frankly, the insurance company is embarrassed to be caught...

Improbably, the normally prosaic practice of probate law has recently gotten exciting. The cause? The proliferation of do-it-yourself wills. Most online forms do not include state-specific language, and very few people fill them out correctly. Some types of omissions and ambiguities can even prevent the will from being probated altogether. These little gems have caused family rifts and placed a plethora of probate assets in limbo. They can turn what should...

Considering Remarriage? Think Before You Say “I Do” Remarrying can seem like a natural next step in life and love. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, by age 55, 87% of men and women in the United States have married at least once. Of those, 46% have divorced at least once, and by age 65, half of all people will remarry. But before you walk down the aisle again,...