A few words from Alan

Strategies to co-own the family residence post divorce. By Alan L. Nobler A key piece of every divorce is what to do with the family residence.  Does one parent keep it, giving up other assets in exchange for the equity in the house?  Does it get sold?  In many divorces today there is not enough money for a parent to keep the house, buy out the other parent, and have enough … [Read more...] about So, do you really want to be partners with your ex-spouse?

By Alan L. Nobler I was recently in Superior Court working to help a family resolve a conflict over the estate of their patriarch.  An adult son and two adult sisters were suing their mother over whether they should receive their ultimate share of the family estate now, rather than waiting for their mother to die.  Sounds a little cold, doesn’t it?  But the crux of the case was … [Read more...] about Family Conflicts and Estate Plans

In a family that goes to court, it is generally over when the Judge’s rulings have been put in place, the court stamps the final decree, your various assets have been retitled, and the Qualified Domestic Relations Order has been accepted by your employers. Of course, there may be appeals from the court order and requests for modification, but let’s leave those for another time. In the … [Read more...] about When is My Divorce Over?

By Alan L. Nobler I was meeting with friends of many years who had also been estate planning clients. I had prepared an estate plan for them 30 years ago and they are just now getting around to revisiting that plan. They were at their wits end because they wanted to have their adult children share their estate equally, but couldn’t figure out how to make that happen due to the nature of their … [Read more...] about How should your children share your estate?

Introduction:  These clauses were developed for inclusion in estate planning documents to help families avoid costly litigation following the death of a trustor.  If you have read any of the other articles I’ve written about estate disputes, you have seen proposals about how to avoid those disputes with careful planning.  But not all disputes will be avoidable.  So my … [Read more...] about Alternate Dispute Resolution Clauses for Trusts

What you can do now to minimize conflict among your heirs later. By Alan L. Nobler Many people spend a lot of time and money on the creation of estate plans. But for a variety of reasons, their families wind up in conflict after the passing.  I liken the planning process to SCUBA diving. One of the first things you learn is to “plan your dive and dive your plan.” This means you have … [Read more...] about When Good Plans Go Bad