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Orange City Estate Planning Blog

FAQ: How Do You Treat Children Fairly in Estate Planning?

Wills and trusts lawyers in Northwest Iowa see just about every circumstance that can result from a parent’s death. Some siblings handle the will or trust administration gracefully and with dignity while others turn to squabbling and pettiness. When we work with our clients, they are often very concerned about how to treat their children equally when setting up their wills and trusts. [Read More]

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Ethan Huizenga May 12, 2015

Estate Planning for Your Small Business

When it’s time to start the process of doing your estate planning (that time is right now, by the way), entrepreneurs need to remember to take their small businesses into consideration. Whether you own the entire business outright and work for yourself or you simply own a portion of the entity, you will need to leave instructions for your family to follow. [Read More]

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Ethan Huizenga May 6, 2015

Estate Planning for College Graduates

Now that you’ve earned your college degree, you may not feel like you have anything to “protect” through estate planning. After all, the stereotype of the “starving college student” got started for a reason! But, even if you leave college with a load of student loans and an entry-level job (or hopes of one), you will do yourself a favor by spending just a little time doing some basic estate planning here in Northwest Iowa. [Read More]

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Ethan Huizenga April 28, 2015

High Five: Sign a Healthcare Power of Attorney

Have you been to the doctor? Have you ever taken aspirin or ibuprofen for a headache? Had an out patient procedure? Had a surgery? What led you to take those actions? Did you call the nurse’s station at the local clinic or your health insurance? Did the doctor explain the risks and rewards of the procedure or surgery? Ultimately, you made the decision. But what if you couldn’t speak for yourself? [Read More]

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Ethan Huizenga April 23, 2015

High Five: Choosing a General Power of Attorney

When you sign a general power of attorney, you authorize someone to manage financial matters on your behalf in the event that you are unable to do so yourself. That’s a lot of responsibility to sign over to someone. You need to pick someone who is trustworthy, someone who will act in your best interests. [Read More]

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Ethan Huizenga March 31, 2015

I Digress: Anniversary Plans

Our society has assigned value to marking the passage of time in a particular relationship. Collectively, we recognize that the commitment it takes to maintain a relationship is a significant investment of time and energy, effort and resources. So, we honor those persons or entities who have reached a milestone – usually a multiple of 5 – in terms of years spent on a relationship, whether personal or professional. [Read More]

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Ethan Huizenga March 24, 2015

FAQ: What is a Personal Representative?

The person whom Northwest Iowa trust and estates attorneys have long referred to as the “executor” when managing your estate also has an alternative name. Known as the “personal representative”, this person is appointed by either the person doing the estate planning or by the courts when there was no one named in a will. The personal representative has a very big job of finishing up the decedent’s business, such as taking care of taxes and keeping the bills paid; not to mention the much more commonly recognized job of making sure the decedent’s wishes are followed when it comes to distributing assets. [Read More]

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Ethan Huizenga March 17, 2015

Estate Planning for Generation X

GenX-ers are no longer angst-ridden youth trying to figure out where they fit in this world. Instead, they’re adults with real jobs, real retirement plans, life insurance and real health problems. And they’re people who need to do their estate planning. [Read More]

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Ethan Huizenga March 3, 2015

I Digress: “Map of My Kingdom”

It’s not often that an estate planner is the hero of any story, and estate planning is second only to tax law as the least exciting subject for story telling. But I think maybe that’s what makes “Map of My Kingdom” so impressive. Writer Mary Swander, Actress Cora Vander Broek-Brumlow, and director Matt Foss take an otherwise boring topic and make you love each hero and hate each villain. [Read More]

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Ethan Huizenga February 24, 2015

Sharing Information with Your Family

Every family has its own approach when it comes to talking about financial and legal information. However, families who are at the estate planning phase should be having at least some superficial conversations about these topics, as there is significant information which needs to be shared just to make the estate plan work smoothly. [Read More]

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Ethan Huizenga February 10, 2015
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