When I am helping a financial planner with an estate distribution schedule one of the first thing I ask is whether “everyone is on the same team?” With that question I am asking whether both spouses have a similar testamentary intent and/or are they aware of each other’s testamentary intent? The reasons that the question… Continue Reading
Category Archives: Estate Planning
2012 Gift Tax Exemption and Exclusion Amounts
DISCLAIMER: Estate and Gift Taxes are an entire semester at law school and probably for your local accountant as well so this is just a brief introduction into the exemption amounts that are currently Available in 2012. Even the Internal Revenue Service understands how complicated estate and gift taxes can be come so they have… Continue Reading
Never Assume Someone Has a Completed Estate Plan
In the past I have stressed that regardless if someone is with working with a professional that person’s testamentary intent should be the most important objective when planning his or her estate. Recently, I have been seeing a trend that makes me believe that goal needs to be restated and tweaked a bit – Testamentary… Continue Reading
Unequal Distribution to Heirs
I was working on an interesting estate planning case today and I thought I would get people’s opinion on the subject. At the end of the day this client wants to leave his assets in an unequal distribution schedule to his three children wherein one of the children will receive the lion’s share of the… Continue Reading
Why I am Not A Big Proponent of Revocable Living Trusts
As I have mentioned before that in addition to my day job, and this blog I operate a very small law practice. In both my law practice and day job Revocable Living Trusts come up often, however, I am not a particularly big proponent of using them for one specific reason discussed below. What is… Continue Reading
Make Sure Your IRA Beneficiary Is Correct
A few years ago the United States Supreme Court ruled in Kennedy v. Plan Administrator for DuPont Savings and Investment that 401(k) proceeds would go to the decedent’s ex-wife (divorce occurred in the 70′s) instead of the new wife (marriage was in tact for more than a decade) because that is what the account beneficiary… Continue Reading
