Tag Archive: Estate Planning

You Have Absolutely No Patriotic Duty To Pay High Taxes

I don’t want to pay higher taxes then what the law mandates.  In fact a large part of my day is spent helping people plan for the Federal and State Estate Tax and I love my job.  I am not sure why I get so excited helping people plan to lower their tax bill.  If…

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…

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…

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…

Business Succession Planning Should be a Priority for Business Owners and Professionals

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There is one aspect of running a business that most business owners often overlook; succession planning.  I am often reminded of the vary scary scary fact that, Approximately 90 percent of U.S. businesses are family firms, ranging in size from small “mom-n-pop” businesses to the likes of Walmart, Ford, Mars and Marriott. Family businesses are…

At Death What You Think Someone Else Wants is Irrelevant

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Absent fraud, duress, undue influence or a few other rare reasons whether you agree with a decedent’s estate plan is Irrelevant.  It is amazing how often I have to explain to someone that just because your pain in the ass relative left all her money to her cats doesn’t mean you should complain about it…