Financial Security: Legal Topics

scale of justice

 

Legal issues that impact financial security include topics such as: property ownership, estate planning, advance directives for health care, and guardianship for minor children.

 

Advance Directives

Many Americans die without a will or advanced health directives. Several factors are often cited for this lack of preparation. Many people believe that property will pass on to their heirs under state law in a manner they would like. Some just never get around to making specific legal arrangements to protect their survivors. …

Financial Security: Consumer Credit

Credit can be a successful financial management tool. Using credit allows you flexibility in managing your budget to purchase goods and services when they are needed the most, not when you have the cash on hand to pay for them. You are offered credit because people trust you to repay them within a stated period of time.

Example of credit cards, (c) FreeFoto.com
“Credit Cards” by FreeFoto.com, CC BY-NC-ND 3.0

Consumer credit takes many forms, including installment loans, credit cards, department store revolving charge accounts, home …

Financial Security: Estate Planning

An estate plan is a plan for the disposition of resources and property after death or during crisis.

A will is one component of an estate plan. Although necessary to direct the distribution of assets after death, almost 70 percent of U.S. adults do not have wills. Many people think they do not need a will because they do not have many assets, or they think that preparing a will costs too much. Dying without a will is called dying …