The formerly popular television game show asked the question: Who wants to be a millionaire? When estate planning is lacking, individuals may inherit in a fashion that feels like they just won the game. While this makes for great television it rarely makes for happy endings and it is certainly never good planning.

I read an article over the weekend in the Deseret News discussing the concerns of those who are aging yet still caring for a disabled child. Of course the needs and abilities of both the disabled individual and the caregiver will change with age. Ultimately, if the disabled individual outlives the caregiver, transition to a new caregiver will be necessary. This may need to happen sooner if the caregiver becomes unable to provide that care. Transition is a fact of life.

I was involved in a lively online discussion the other day with several estate planning professionals from around the country. The topic of the discussion was the ever difficult choice of how to divide ownership of the family business among the children. The question is really one of how many cooks are too many?

Often in estate planning the first question asked is - what will the children receive? But, I would encourage a different first question. That question would be - how much of your estate should be given to charity? In most cases the good that could be done by a charitable bequest is far greater than the importance of any gift to a child. So remember, you stand on the shoulders of giants. You have benefited from the generosity of others along the way. Pay it back by paying something forward to your church, a school, etc. Maybe even all that you have.

I heard a great quote recently from Winston Churchill. He said: “Courage is rightly esteemed the first of human qualities... because it is the quality which guarantees all others.” One of the greatest challenges people have when planning is making choices.

As an estate planning attorney I spend a lot of time talking to people about their money or other assets. But as I was blessed to spend several days this last week with my wife and children at a family reunion I was reminded again that good estate planning is not about the money. The reason we plan our affairs is to truly to show our love to those we care about.

Like many, I have spent the last couple of weeks watching the wonderful athletes from around the globe compete in the 2012 Olympics. One of the common stories has been the attention to every detail that these world class athletes engage in when training. In a story about one of my favorite athletes, Lolo Jones, she talked about how she learned every detail about every movement her body made so that she could be as efficient as possible once on the track. Usain Bolt, the world’s fastest man, is able to take advantage of his height by taking only 41 steps in completing the 100 meters as opposed to 44 by the silver medalist. Amazing, but when the difference between victory and defeat is measured in fractions of seconds, the details matter!

One of the concepts I stress in discussing estate planning with my Clients is that title is king - meaning that how assets are owned will trump everything else. Trusts, wills, beneficiary designations, everything will fall victim to a failure to properly title assets.

Aristotle is reported to have said: “The worst form of inequality is to try to make unequal things equal.” Most parents, however, want to treat their children fairly in their estate planning, and many assume that this means having their children inherit equally. While this may be possible and right in some circumstances, when it comes to planning for a family business, including a family farm or ranch, fair almost never means equal.

Whether it is from our parents, clergy, a doctor, or even an estate planning lawyer, we all need assistance along life's trail

According to a recent study, family values, traditions and history still mean more than money as an inheritance.

More from Neil Harl’s book Farm Estate & Business planning. Here are some key items that should be addressed in your business succession plan.

I am currently reading a great book by Neil Harl on Farm Estate & Business planning. I thought I would use this blog to share some of the ideas as I move through the book. One of the first things to understand is the importance of planning in general. If we do not do anything, we have a plan, it is just the default plan that the government has for us. So the question really isn’t: “Do I need a plan?” Rather, the question is: “Could I improve on the state’s plan?” If you believe that you can, you are ready to plan.

As I meet with people in seminars and consultations or when reviewing planning that has been done by others in the past, I come across a variety of ways to approach estate planning. There are mountains of information available and much of it can be confusing. This can often lead to inaction or bad actions. In my blog today I thought I would share a few don’ts when it comes to planning your affairs.

Now that the health care law has been declared constitutional, one little known provision will go into effect on January 1, 2013. This provision is a new 3.8% investment income surtax, also called the health care surtax or the Medicare tax. The health care surtax will be assessed on the lesser of a) net investment income or b) the excess of modified adjusted gross income (MAGI) over the “threshold amount.” There are several steps you can take this year to help you reduce or avoid the amount of surtax beginning in 2013.