by stevenberger on February 7, 2010
Would your personal representative be able to track down all your bank accounts and pay all your bills that are setup for web access? Could your family recover pictures and videos that you have stored with services such as Picasa or Flickr? Dan Rosenwald at the Washington Post ran interesting article on digital data and services that allow your heirs to take over your on-line accounts. Some of the sites mentioned were Legacy Locker, Bcelebrated.com, DataInherit, Entrustet, Parting Wishes, VitalLock, My Last Email and If I Die.
These sites serve a new need and the emphasis of the sites varies. All sites let you store your accounts and passwords. This is the critical item, but you must keep the information current to be of value to your executor. Similar information may already be stored with Password Keeper or Online Vault among others. The sites that focus on what to do in the event of your demise also allow you to store a letter to your family or some special wishes. Much of this information can be stored on paper. However, the sites assist you in gathering important information, storing it, and make updating the information easy. Some of the sites will assist your executor in taking down sites and closing out accounts. I think it is too early to tell which sites will be the survivors, but digital records are not going away. If you have valuable on-line records, you should consider one of these providers. In addition, have your attorney include a beneficiary for your digital assets in your will or trust.
by stevenberger on January 5, 2010
The November issue of Money Magazine published an article “Marrying Finances – For the Second Time.” Karen Cheney points out tree instances “When a Prenup makes Sense:
- … have a family business.
- … have vastly more savings than your spouse.
- … have kids from a previous marriage.”
Premarital Agreements are enforceable contracts under Maryland Law. However, the parties to a premarital in a fiduciary relationship requiring one of the two following elements to be enforceable:
- The agreement must be fair to the weaker party at the time of execution; or
- The agreement must be executed voluntarily and with fair financial disclosure.
In addition, the contract must contain all the necessary elements of a valid contract. Three additional requirements necessary for a Premarital Agreement are:
- Both parties must have legal capacity to contract and the assumption is that an adult is mentally competent.
- There must be consideration for the contract. However, marriage itself is a valuable enough benefit that no other consideration is necessary.
- The contract must be executed voluntarily, without fraud or duress.
Fairness and disclosure are key elements to the premarital agreement. As Estate Planners the most common situation we deal with is the second marriage where both parties want to ensure that their assets pass down to their children. Proper planning is necessary to ensure that all the children are treated fairly. Adult children often have a difficult adjustment to seeing Mom or Dad getting remarried. If they feel they are being cheated out of their inheritance, the resentment of the new spouse can hinder the family relationship. Our office can coordinate the Premarital Agreement with as Estate Plan that accounts for the assets both parties are bringing to the marriage.
