The article A Woman's Self-Defense Guide to Estate Planning provides a step-by-step analysis of the risks and issues women must consider when planning an estate. This article does a great job pinpointing the risks of creating a joint account with a husband or cohabitant. The reason a women must be so careful revolves around the fact that a person's assets will go to the beneficiary of the account upon the death of the account holder, not to the children or other family members. Because of this, precautions must be made when deciding what type of account to open. Before opening a joint account, couples should seek professional advice to make sure all the options have been weighed.
             Being informed allows a person to make smart decisions. In order to get positive results, it is crucial to know what rights protect the account holder. The law also takes steps to protect a spouse's rights regarding retirement funds, and it sets up guidelines to help the survivors once a person has passed away. This article takes many steps to address how a woman can secure her estate.
             A new trend is being seen in the increase of prenuptial agreements, which provide financial security to people who have accumulated a large amount of wealth and wish to leave their children financially protected. This has solved many future battles by dealing with the issue of money at the beginning of their marriage instead of during a battle at the unforeseen end of a marriage. This preventative action needs to be done under the supervision of a financial advisor. Full disclosure of assets is crucial in order for prenuptial agreements to remain effective, along with an important necessity to have independent counsel.
             One of the greatest points tackled in this article deals with creating a good offense that will guarantee success in the long run. In order to do this, it is important to have an advanced directive that will help delegate a p...