Essita Duncan is the principal for Heritage Hills Law, LLC, a boutique estate planning and administration law firm in Prince George’s County, Maryland. She currently serves as Co-Chair of the Section’s Rights of Women Committee and Vice Chair of the Section’s Elder Affairs Committee.

Sending a son or daughter off to college, can be a stressful time for parents. With everything going on in the

If you are anything like me, if something happens to my son or daughter, I am ready to swoop in as “the Ultimate Protector” – protecting their interests and managing the situation.

We see it time and time again like a bad rerun, when public figures die with unplanned estates. Family feuds over who gets what are played out in courtrooms across this country from New York to California with lawyers singing all the way to the bank.

You may not be loaded like billionaire investor Robert F. Smith and have the ability to pay off student loans for an entire graduating class, but you can make a difference with the wealth you steward.

Estate planning is much more than having a Will or Trust and Powers of Attorneys. If done right, organizing your affairs can help avoid family feuds, loss of assets, reduce taxes,

Your summer travel plans may look nice and that jump off the cliff into the Caribbean Sea is nothing short of amazing. With everything happening in the world today,

It is finally happening! You said YES. RSVPs confirmed. Chapel booked. Bridesmaids are in formation and your dress is hot off Kleinfelds’ rack.

Do you have a son or daughter preparing to leave the nest for college, the military or a gap year? It may be the right time to start your young adult on the road to a well-planned estate.

Despite the various options available to manage and protect family wealth of all levels, too many of us have taken the stand, “I don’t have much so why plan?

When the conversation turns to the preparation of a will or trust, oftentimes people become uneasy and want to change the subject. Others dismiss the matter as irrelevant to them because of their age

For many, after coming to grips with your own mortality the next hardest part to planning is deciding who gets what and the naming game.

Whether you decide to Will or to Trust depends largely on your goals for planning and of course in many cases your wallet or purse.

Love sometimes requires us to have tough conversations, transparency and judgment free zones with our family, friends and ourselves.

As we close out another Black History Month I can’t help but to reflect on the state of black wealth in America. Sure this country is built on a legacy of discrimination that has given way to the current wealth

I don’t mean to be overly spiritual about the matter, but as a Christian who happens to be an estate planning attorney, I understand that, one day, I’ll have to give an account for everything that has been entrusted to me.

You may be upset with your spouse and have decided in your heart to get the last laugh by selling the family home and leaving everything to charity at your death or giving it all away before you die. 

As we continue to pray and identify solutions, new policies and legislation to overcome the many injustices in this country, engagement at the local and federal levels and within the private sector is essential. 

Many of our seniors are isolated in their homes, long-term care facilities, and nursing homes across the United States, with limited access to the outside world.

For many, the number one goal for estate planning is to avoid probate. You may be asking yourself what is probate? Without getting too technical, probate is the legal process of wrapping up your affairs

For 246 years we were somebody’s assets. We were transported across the Atlantic like cargo and sold at markets with other goods. 

I spend the majority of my day advising individuals and families on protecting and preserving their wealth in case of incapacitation and death.

Say it out loud. Probate. Probate. Probate. And get comfortable saying it. Probate. For most of us, whether we planned for it or not, our affairs upon our deaths will likely be wrapped up in the probate process.

here are many assumptions about what happens after somebody dies. Like who’s in charge, who gets what and what you can and can’t do.

I get this question all the time from the married and soon to be married: “Am I responsible for my

I am Woman, the Ultimate Distributor of Family Wealth. Statistically speaking, I will outlive you. This means depending upon how we plan or don’t plan

‘Tis the season for graduations and weddings; oh my! We are welcoming our high school seniors, college graduates and newlyweds into a new and exciting season of their lives.

I was hoping for a more elegant title but there is no other way to put it. DYING WITH DEBT SUCKS! It may not suck for the person who is dead because it is no longer their problem.