Some people say that 2010 is a good year to die.  That's because there are no estate taxes for this year.  But, don't get too excited - the estate tax comes back with a vengeance in 2011.  Attorney, Hyman Darling, Chairman of the Estate Planning, Elder Law Department of Bacon Wilson, P.C., Springfield, Massachusetts, explains it all in this video:

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Who would have thought that we'd develop a following for wills of the rich and famous. 

We display these wills whenever we can because (1) people are just plain curious about them and (2) they provide good examples of different types of provisions that are often used in wills to accomplish certain objectives.

Now, we're happy to announce that we've obtained a copy of Katharine Hepburn's will, dated January 27, 1992, and a codicil to that will, dated March 24, 1994.  The will is now live in our Information Center - you can take a look at it here.  We'll have the codicil up live shortly.

Katharine Hepburn died on June 29, 2003 in Old Saybrook, Connecticut.

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We are happy to announce that Glen "Chip" Dahlke has returned to the Living Trust Network as a Senior Contributor. 

As many of you know, Chip was actively involved in the Living Trust Network from its inception in 2006, contributing many insightful tips and commentaries on personal finances, including the investment of assets in living trusts and qualified retirement plans.  Many of his articles continue to be published on our web site to this day.

Now, after a brief hiatus attending to his 110-acre farm in Lyme, Connecticut, his wife's "Ashlawn Farm Coffee" business, and his own investment business known as "Dahlke Financial Group," Chip is back as our Senior Contributor.

Look for Chip's articles here at the Living Trust Network on a regular basis.  For those who wish to receive notice of Chip's new articles as they are published, an RSS feed will be available.  Chip's first new article, entitled "Investing For The Rest of Us: Charting a course for the future," is now featured on our homepage.  Please take a look!

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While this spot is normally reserved for good, substantive information on estate planning topics, we thought we'd use it today to promote our "Ask the Experts" forum.

Quite frankly, our "Ask the Experts" forum is dreadful.  It should be a place where all of you can ask questions, make comments, give or get advice, and generally converse with others about all sorts of things involving estate planning, probate, living trusts, elder law, etc., etc.

Unfortunately, that just isn't happening.  Now, keep in mind that it's not unusual for forums to languish on many good sites.   Those who know about these things say that people shy away from posting on forums because they are not familiar with the ins and outs of posting.  Once they decide to try it, they generally love to take part in conversations and often become regular participants.

We think that's true.  If it is, we want to do everything we can to get you to "break the ice" and make your first post.   After all, happiness is often the result of opportunities acted upon.

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Recently, we discovered an article by the Jensen Law Office in Seattle Washington, entitled "12 Tips For Choosing A Guardian For Your Children." 

We believe this is an excellent article and one that every parent with minor children will want to read - simply because it does give you some real food for thought when it comes to naming guardians for your minor children.

We like this article so much we've written to the law firm for permission to make it a permanent part of our articles on last wills and testaments.

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