Do you love reading and collecting books? Are you a rabid coin or stamp collector? Do you find peace and tranquility out tending your garden? Whatever it is that you love doing; you can bet the people who love you are aware of it. These are the people who join you on your wilderness hikes;… Read More »
Posts Categorized: Estate Planning
With $5 Million Gift Tax Exclusion About to Expire, Is Now the Time to Give To Your Children or Grandchildren?
When legislation in 2010 raised the lifetime gift tax exclusion amount from $1 million to $5 million many wealthy families rejoiced, expecting that they would now be able to give large gifts to children or grandchildren and be able to save millions in taxes at the same time. But for all the rejoicing, the unsteady… Read More »
Preserving Your Low Property Tax For Your Children
Q. My wife and I have owned our home, and a rental duplex, for approximately 20 years and have a low assessed value on each. We would like to preserve the low property tax rate for our son. If we pass it to him by gift or by inheritance, would either transfer trigger reassessment and… Read More »
The Ethical Will: Putting Your Values on Paper
Q: In connection with creating our estate planning documents, my husband and I would like to leave our children and grandchildren something more than just our money and assets. We would like to leave them a sense of our values. A friend mentioned something to us about an “Ethical Will”. Can you tell us anything… Read More »
Pre-Plan Your Funeral, But Be Cautious About Pre-Payment
A funeral comes at a time when the death of a loved one is recent and close, and many people are still in shock and in some cases struggling with the reality of loss. Funerals help grieving loved ones come to terms with death and say their final goodbyes… but for the person planning the… Read More »
Dementia or Alzheimer’s: Is It Too Late For Your Parents To Sign Legal Documents?
The question of competence has become a very big issue in the estate planning/elder law world over the past few years. As the population ages, and awareness of Alzheimer’s and dementia diagnoses grow, more and more adult children are questioning the ability of their elderly parents to make legal and financial decisions. Some children are… Read More »
Consider A Pet Trust To Protect Your Furry Companions
According to a recent article on BusinessInsider.com, there are some surprising new figures about American households and their pets. “In 2011, Americans spent a record $50.8 billion on pets, according to the American Pet Products Association. We share our homes with an estimated 86 million cats, 78 million dogs, 16 million birds and 160 million… Read More »
Republican Primary Inspires Talk of Trusts
If you follow current events at all it is impossible to ignore the fact that we are now in the thick of the Republican primary race—and that the Presidential election will not be far behind. With the political machine in full swing there have been quite a few news stories about the candidates’ financial backgrounds,… Read More »
The Flip Side of “Putting Your Affairs in Order”
Everyone knows that because 2012 is the last year on the Mayan calendar it is thought by some to be “the end of the world as we know it.” Most of us don’t believe that the end of the world is nigh, but that doesn’t stop us from contemplating how we’ve lived our lives, what… Read More »
Don’t Let Your Old Estate Plan Atrophy On The Shelf
Do you already have an estate plan? Or perhaps you don’t have an estate plan per se, but over the years you’ve collected all of what you feel are the necessary documents to provide security and protection for your family and your assets after your death? Well, you may want to take a moment to… Read More »