The end of the year is an ideal time to review your current estate plan and confirm that you are taking advantage of all planning opportunities available to you. This includes not only tax planning, but also asset protection, probate avoidance, beneficiary designations and changes in your family and financial situations. On the other hand, […]
Former NBA and reality TV star, Lamar Odom, was found unconscious on October 13, 2015, and remains hospitalized in Los Angeles. Odom and his wife, Khloe Kardashian, had been separated for years and were in the middle of a divorce that had not been finalized, allowing his estranged wife to serve as his health care […]
Bucket Lists have grown in popularity in the last few years. While it might seem important that you go skydiving, and swim with the dolphins before you die I would suggest taking a look at the below list and giving these items priority. Many of these items have been discussed in detail in other posts […]
We are often approached by clients, who have aging parents, to find out the best way to raise the topic of estate planning with their parents. Typically the client is in the process of drafting his or her own estate plan and they realize quickly how messy the administration of an estate can be if […]
An individual retirement account (IRA) is typically established in one of two ways. As a custodial account, where the bank or financial institution is simply acting as a fiduciary and must follow the directions of the account owner (including the instruction to cash out the entire balance). An IRA can also be held in trust (the […]
The Uniform Law Commission drafted an act to provide fiduciaries with the same access to digital assets as they have had to tangible assets. The Uniform Fiduciary Access to Digital Assets Act (the “Act”) has been introduced in over twenty states, including Minnesota. The Act was introduced and enacted in the Minnesota House of Representatives. […]
Men’s college basketball coaching legend, Dean Smith, passed away on February 7, 2015. Coach Smith utilized a revocable trust in his estate plan. He included a unique bequest.
If you have a current estate plan, as you know, we recommend that you review it on a regular basis. If there are changes that need to be made, it can be done through an amendment or codicil or through drafting the plan from scratch. Clients often think it is easier (and cheaper) to do […]
The British government announced recently that 4 million historical wills have been digitized and are now available for download by the public. As in the United States, these documents were previously available by traveling to the probate court and searching the available public records. Now anyone with an internet connection and a credit card can […]
A married couple, of which each spouse has children from previous relationships, faces certain issues with regard to distribution of their estates. The most basic of these issues involves what happens if a spouse dies without a will. When any individual dies without a will, the statutory rules for the intestate succession dictate the distribution of […]
Estate planners do encourage clients to be specific with their various bequests within their estate plan. When describing gifts of both real and tangible personal property or defining beneficiaries, we want the assets and individuals to be identifiable. However, it can actually cause problems when clients get too specific and potentially lead to unintended complications […]