Posted on January 6, 2022

Sometimes, marriage can stymie the financial life of even the savviest person. You go along living your life, working, eating, sleeping — and suddenly you discover that your household paid far too little in taxes. What’s worse, you signed the joint return. Now what? You can request innocent spouse relief to walk away from paying… read more

Posted on January 5, 2022

A trust is an estate planning document that disposes of your assets after your death. Trusts are an effective planning tool for those with detailed plans for their worldly goods. Will your trust achieve the purpose it was created for? Not if you make one of the following errors: Common Missteps Made in Creating Trusts… read more

Posted on January 4, 2022

No one likes to think about his or her own funeral, but it’s something everyone will need. You can let your family and friends concentrate on mourning by making your own arrangements and last wishes known. Advance arrangements are called “pre-need funeral planning.” Pre-need planning enables you to make such choices as to whether you… read more

Posted on January 1, 2022

  While our work at Triplett & Carothers often involves drafting estate plans to provide for disability and death, our goal is to put off using them as long as possible! We’re excited to share our new (occasional) series called Better Health, Longer Life where we’ll look at a variety of tools and techniques to… read more

Posted on December 7, 2021

Saturday, December 4th was the night we gathered our School of Music Alumni Council and the Friends of the School of Music to sponsor our annual bourbon-tasting fundraiser, this year at Ricky B’s Club Café. (Roz Carothers is President of both the School of Music Alumni Council and the Friends of the School of Music.)… read more

Posted on December 3, 2021

If you need to provide for someone who’s physically or mentally disabled or chronically ill but don’t want to jeopardize his or her public assistance disability benefits, creating a special needs trust is a popular strategy. Usually, such programs as Social Security Supplemental Security Income, Medicare, and Medicaid impose an income or asset ceiling. However,… read more

Posted on December 2, 2021

Recently, singer Britney Spears testified in court about the 13 years she has spent in a legal structure called a conservatorship. In vivid testimony, she described her father and lawyers seizing control of her rights to make personal, financial, and legal decisions. How can this happen to an adult with a successful career, and why… read more

Posted on December 1, 2021

When you retire, your needs change. That’s why many people decide to move to a new city at that point. Perhaps you want to move somewhere you’ve always loved but never lived because there were no jobs in your field nearby. Once you’re serious about moving, the first step is research. Before you decide on… read more

Posted on November 5, 2021

If you’re named the executor or personal representative in a will, you’ll be the final administrator of a deceased person’s estate and have many details to manage. The following estate executor checklist can help you more easily navigate the process while making sure none of your duties slip through the cracks: You’ll find that being… read more

Posted on November 4, 2021

Every day, you make choices about your finances that affect your long-term happiness. But if you’re like most people, you never had any formal education in money management. You’ve had to seek out advice and resources as you go. And unless you’ve been very lucky, you’ve found it contradictory or downright nonsensical. Let’s debunk some… read more