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estate planning - general
Avoiding Personal
Liability in Acting as a Trustee or Personal Representative Good
record-keeping, following the instructions of the trust or will, and
communicating effectively with interested parties are key steps in carrying
out your fiduciary duties
The Benefits of a
Living Trust, Part 1: Avoiding Probate, Stress and Lost Time and Money An excellent motivation for setting up a trust is to spare your loved
ones and other heirs the expense and aggravation of probate
The Benefits of a
Living Trust, Part 2: Protection from a Bad Marriage Ensuring that
your assets won’t end up being owned by an adult child’s ex-spouse is an
overlooked benefit of a living trust
The Benefits of a
Living Trust, Part 3: Protection in Case of Incapacity Another way a
living trust can protect you is in the event you are no longer physically or
mentally capable of handling your own affairs
CLAT: Help a Charity, Keep a
Deduction, and Transfer an Asset to the Kids A Charitable Lead
Annuity Trust can help protect your wealth during a down economy
Creating an "Online Estate Plan" When you create a will or a trust, you
list accounts, assets and important papers; but if you fail to include passwords
and other log-in information for financial accounts and personal profiles,
you're creating a problem down the road
Crummey Trust: A Half-Century Later, Still an Effective Estate Planning Tool
If the lifetime threshold for tax-free giving drops back to $1 million next
year, or if Congress decides to "claw back" this year’s gift and estate tax
savings, the venerable Crummey trust could be as valuable as ever
Estate Planning and Parenting
Fairness in distributing your assets and clarity in communicating your
intentions are vital in minimizing sibling jealousy and resentment after you are
gone
Estate Planning for Your Pets Does your estate plan include instructions
regarding who will care for your pets after you die or if you become disabled or
seriously ill?
Facebook and Your Estate Ownership of, and access to, online mementoes
and other property is an issue of growing importance to families and should be
considered in creating a Will or a Trusts
Funding and Administering Your Trust Information on transferring assets
to your trust and trust operations
A
George Clooney Movie Offers a Useful Look at Family Trusts The
scenario that the main character faces, as both a beneficiary and a trustee of a
substantial estate, mirrors real-life dilemmas and tough decisions faced by
trustees every day
Gifting: As Simple as Writing a Check One of the easiest ways to
transfer assets is to take advantage of current gifting laws
"Girl with the Dragon
Tattoo" Author Died with an Invalid Will Unfortunately for his
intended devisees, Stieg Larsson’s Will was not witnessed and ultimately was
ruled invalid
Grantor Retained Annuity Trusts A GRAT allows you to freeze the value of
your assets, avoid estate tax, and give your kids the benefit
Guardianship: Avoid Putting
the Wrong Person in Charge of Your Life Don’t make the mistake of
viewing estate planning as a post-death issue; with the right person taking care
of you and your affairs, the value of a well-drafted Trust will likely become
evident while you are still able to experience its benefits
Guidelines for the Individual Trustee Information for the individual
trustee on duties and obligations in administering a trust
Important Documents: Which Ones
Should Your Loved Ones Be Able to Access? It isn't enough to create an
estate plan and other end-of-life instructions; it’s important that you make
your personal representative, successors trustee and/or selected heirs aware
that those documents exist and where they can find them
Intentionally Defective Grantor Trusts An IDGT allows you to give the
appreciation while keeping the income
Irrevocable Trusts in Arizona: Trustee Reporting and Notification Requirements If you have an irrevocable trust, or if you are a beneficiary of someone
else’s irrevocable trust, you should be aware of some important provisions
contained in the Arizona Trust Code
Mirowski v. Commissioner A taxpayer victory provides a roadmap for
defending a family LLC against IRS challenges
The Perils of Joint Tenancy with Your Adult Children While you may
achieve your goal of avoiding probate, your child’s debts, lawsuits or divorce
can jeopardize your ownership
A
“Rich Uncle” Story – Literally – that Illustrates a Powerful Tax Avoidance
Strategy How a well-conceived estate plan, in partnership with a
professional valuation, worked as a giant safety net against avoidable estate
and gift taxes
Simple Wills: Why Can't I Just Use the Internet? Online "will kits" or
computer programs that produce estate planning documents are popular because
they're cheap – but saving money now can subject survivors to unnecessary legal
fees to fix what often turn out to be useless documents
Successor Trustee
Handbook The purpose of this handbook is to assist successor trustees
in carrying out their duties; it is not intended to answer every question that
could come up in the administration of a trust, and it is not intended to give
legal advice
Trusts Made Simple The legal and financial issues associated with trusts
can at times feel overwhelming; to help distill some of those arcane concepts to
an easily understood level, this article will provide a simple illustration for
some of the concepts that we apply regularly during the estate planning process
Vacation Homes and Estate Planning: How to Leave the Property to Your Kids
If you own a vacation home, have you considered how to pass it on to your kids
so that everybody still enjoys spending time together there?
What Kind of Person Should Be Your Trustee? Regardless of whom you
choose, the basic qualities of a good trustee are the same: integrity, good
judgment, and objectivity
Your Estate Plan: Getting
Started Information on estate planning tools and documents
estate planning and marriage
Planning Challenges: Marriage, Divorce and Remarriage A recent Florida
case illustrates one big reason why it’s a good idea to regularly update your
estate plan
Post-Divorce Planning: Problem or Opportunity? After a divorce,
sitting down with financial professionals (and still more lawyers) may be
critical to ensuring that your estate plan benefits the right people
Understanding Prenuptial Agreements There are two types of nuptial
agreements: prenuptial (before the marriage ceremony) and postnuptial (after)
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business ownership
See more articles for business
owners on our Business Law page
FICs: Sharing the Family Business without Giving Up Control A family
investment company can be a great way to lessen your estate taxes, ensure
continuous family ownership and maintain control over the business and its
assets
Gift Tax Exemptions Create Succession Opportunity for Business Owners Transferring a stake in your family business now spares your heirs from having
to take on debt or sell the business to satisfy your estate tax bill
Simple Will Causes Family Business an Expensive Problem A recent Florida
case illustrates how a "simple will" led to a lawsuit and an expensive outcome
for the son who inherited his dad's company
Succession: Is Keeping the Business in the Family Necessarily the Best Course?
Whether you should transfer ownership of the family business to your offspring
may depend on your needs and the ability of your company, after the transfer, to
support two families
Who Will Run Your Business After You're Gone? Think about what you want
to have happen to your businesses after you’re gone, and consider what might
happen if you don't start to make some important choices now
kids protection
Adoptive Parents and the
Adoption Tax Credit If adopting a child is in your thoughts (and on
your heart), you should know about the adoption tax credit that the federal
government offers to adoptive parents of eligible children, particularly special
needs children
Does Your Teenager Need a Will? Creating a will can put a young person
in the mindset of someone who is going to have a successful financial life and
has thoughtfully taken on adult responsibilities
Estate Planning for
Grandparents The tax laws provide many opportunities for grandparents
to provide for their grandkids' financial, educational and other needs
How to Teach Your
Kids to Manage Money In
"Financial Peace Revisited," Dave Ramsey offers practical tips for parents to
help their kids learn how to work, save, spend and give
Selecting the Guardian for a Minor Child Who would you like to be the
guardians of your young children if you pass away?
Special Planning for Special Needs Children Creating a Special Needs
Trust can help provide for a child's care – but maximizing the benefit may
require communication and coordination
Tips for
Parents of a Developmentally Delayed Child What should parents do when a
child isn’t developing as expected or isn’t succeeding in school, particularly
in the early grades?
Welcome to the Bank of
Mom and Dad Help relatives with loans, but protect the principal
taxation
Estate and Gift Tax Provisions of the 2010 Tax Relief Act Better late
than never, Congress and the White House extended the Bush tax cuts and, in the
process, included some very favorable estate and gift tax provisions
Income Tax Provisions of the 2010 Tax Relief Act In this article we
cover some of the new law’s personal income tax planning opportunities
Owe Back Taxes? Beware of Hiring “Quick Fix” Firms If you are struggling
to pay your taxes, the last thing you need is to lose more money to a bogus
scheme, and it is important that you be alert to the dangers of a quick fix to
resolve any big tax bills
Super Committee Inaction: How It Might Affect You The committee’s
failure to act leaves some potentially valuable opportunities
Tax Traps for Non-Citizens, Expatriates When Congress passed the Heroes
Earning Assistance and Relief Tax Act of 2008 (HEART Act), it had a significant
impact on estate and gift taxes for non-citizens, non-resident aliens and former
U.S. citizens
retirement planning
Blended Families and
Retirement Accounts When your life situation changes, review all
important documents that affect your assets and seek the help of a trusted
advisor in making sure that, after you pass away, your assets will go to the
intended persons
Converting Your IRA to a
Roth IRA Got Easier in 2010 On January 1, 2010, the government ended
the income limits that prevented many people from converting their traditional
IRAs or employer-sponsored retirement plans to a Roth IRA
Maximizing Your Social Security Benefits The longer you can wait to
start receiving benefits, the greater your monthly benefit will be
New
Disclosure Rules Will Expose Many "Hidden" Fees in Retirement Plans
Neither you nor your financial advisor can make these fees go away, but there
may be a
tax-efficient way to pay them
Reverse Mortgages:
Understanding the Benefits, Risks and Requirements A reverse mortgage
can be a beneficial way to withdraw some of the equity in your residence –
provided you do your homework and understand the costs and obligations before
you commit to the loan
Using
a Creditor-Proof IRA Trust to Protect Your Beneficiaries An IRA trust
is the only sure bet when it comes to protecting inherited IRAs
aging and disability
Avoid Confusion in Crisis
Through Proper Estate Planning Baby Boomers often find themselves
making medical and financial decisions for their aging parents; these
decisions often fall to one child, with other siblings out of the loop
Combating the Rising
Costs of Long-Term Care One of the greatest challenges many
Americans face is how to protect their families from the rising costs of
long-term care, both for their elderly parents and for themselves when they
reach retirement age
Detecting and Dealing with Financial Elder Abuse The elderly are
particularly vulnerable to scams or to financial abuse, and there are warning signs to help protect
your elderly parents or other family members
Disability Insurance vs. Long-Term Care Insurance It’s easy to get
confused when a financial advisor starts talking about insurance options, especially when explaining the differences between long-term care
insurance and disability insurance
Long-Term Care Trend: Baby Boomers Insuring Their Parents We are
devoting an increasing amount of time to discussions of buying long-term care
insurance for parents or exploring how to help Mom and Dad receive Medicaid
benefits
New Challenges, Strategies in Buying Long-Term Care Insurance Fewer
insurers are selling long-term care coverage to individuals, and the companies
still in the market are making it tougher to qualify
Planning for Disability An ailing tycoon's after-death wishes are
bungled by poor estate planning
Qualifying for Long-Term Care Assistance Some families have reduced the
value of their estates – and satisfied Medicare’s “means test” – by use of a
personal services agreement between an aging parent and their care-giving adult
children
Transitioning Responsibility for Your Aging Parents’ Finances Convincing
senior parents to turn over management of their bank accounts can be more
challenging than taking away their car keys
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