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 […]
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.
One thing I learned quickly after becoming an estate planning attorney is that there are often times when my clients’ wishes are not the same as what I would do in their particular situation. For example, the first few times I encountered clients who wished to disinherit their children for reasons more emotionally driven than […]
Last week, Facebook announced that users of the social media website could designate a “legacy contact,” who would be able to control and manage the user’s Facebook page once the user passed away. The legacy contact would have some limitations to what they can do with the user’s account but they would be able to […]
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 […]
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 […]
For many, cabins provide an opportunity to get away from it all, to spend time with family and friends (maybe beside a body of water) and decompress from daily life. Unfortunately, cabins can also cause frustration and confusion as to how families (immediate and extended) will share it and how the cabin can be passed […]
On June 12, 2014, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled on a divisive bankruptcy and estate planning case. At issue was whether an individual retirement account (“IRA”) that a debtor inherited was exempt from the debtor’s bankruptcy estate under the Bankruptcy Code. The Bankruptcy Code permits a debtor to protect assets that are in a “retirement […]
When drafting real estate deeds (even though the Minnesota Uniform Conveyancing Blanks forms look relatively simple) there are several statutory-specific rules that inevitably lead to the return of your deed with a “rejection letter” from the county recorder. Here are some of the common mistakes made when drafting real estate deeds: Marital Status Omitted You […]
While there are plenty of other myths I could include in this post, one overarching theme seems to be prevalent throughout: uniqueness. While it may seem like a given estate planning situation is vanilla, working to achieve your specific goals and planning for the various anomalies present in your life is the only way to […]