On December 17th, President Obama signed the Tax Relief Act of 2010, bringing to a close almost ten years of uncertainty about the estate tax and replacing it with . . . two years of uncertainty about the estate tax. Thus ends perhaps the most interesting and tumultuous period in the 95 year history
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Many people are now thinking, My estate is far less than $5,000,000, so I do not need to worry about having a trust. However, that conclusion may be premature as there may be many good reasons to still consider an A-B trust arrangement. First, what is an A-B trust? This is a type of trust George Carlin had a routine about all the tangible personal property in our lives, in which he said, “That’s all a house is, a place to keep your stuff! If you didn’t have so much stuff, you wouldn’t need a house. You could just walk around all the time.” Many of us do have a tremendous I am frequently asked for a checklist of items to consider in making an estate plan. So I have put together a brief list of important items to consider. This list, however, is by no means exhaustive. Consider the following: Which persons or entities will act as your personal representative (executor) when you die? You may When a married individual has separate children from prior relationships, estate planning becomes much more complicated, as the client has to balance his or her wishes to provide for their surviving spouse with the goals to protect the long term interest of their own children. While every family situation is unique, frequently tensions between step-children Over the years many of us have made the remark “they can fight over it when I’m gone”. However, what you have left your children with is what you have strove to provide them all along—guidance. Even if you do not have children, you leave your family with no instructions as to what your wishes What can go wrong when you choose the wrong person to serve in a fiduciary capacity? Or what if the court charged with overseeing your guardianship or conservatorship falls down on the job? A recent article in the Denver Post http://www.denverpost.com/search/ci_14442041 (“Probate court rife with lapses in training, oversight: Who’s Protecting the Unprotected”, By David Olinger, Today, many people name children, siblings, and others as joint tenants on their bank accounts. When asked, most will tell you it is for convenience. While that may be true, many do not realize the pitfalls to the convenience. To begin, let’s make a critical distinction, because there are different ways you can put someone “on When planning for the exciting (and/or intimidating) prospect of a marriage, or when going through the upheaval of a divorce, it’s understandable that personal legal planning issues can be set aside for more important concerns. However, there are some critical (and frequently simple) updates that Arizona residents need consider when their marital status changes. A big For the first time in 95 years, there is no federal estate tax, even for the wealthiest individuals. For years know, everyone in the estate planning business “knew” that Congress would take some logical steps to avoid the craziness of this result. Guess what! Congress surprised them all by not getting anything done, and now planners are scrambling to figure out what to do. Learn what you need to know about this abrupt shock, and whether or not YOU need to worry about what it means for your estate |
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