Firm News

Posts Tagged ‘estate plan’

How To Retrieve Assets If You’ve Been Excluded From a Will or Trust

Nurse assisting disable senior patient while writing on a paper

When someone has changed a will or trust just a few years before they pass away, this can lead to an accusation that someone has used a position of confidence or authority in order to take unfair advantage. Undue influence is the legal term used to describe this situation. Undue influence often arises with a husband and wife who have been married for several decades, built a family, own a […]

Read More

Learning From Prince: Why It Pays to Have an Estate Plan With Trusts and a Will

One year after Prince’s death on April 21, 2016, the fate of his estate remains up in the air, and according to a recent article in the New York Times, the six likely heirs to the pop icon’s vast fortune are fighting. At issue are legal fees and the question how much discretion the estate’s administrator should have in managing the estate. But the disputes — as well as a […]

Read More

No-contest Clauses, Wills and Lawsuits: Why in Estate Planning Small Details Really Matter

When somebody dies with an estate plan and a last will in place, the deceased person’s assets usually pass to the heirs smoothly and swiftly. But every once in a while things go awry, and the courts get involved. So it happened with a case that the 2nd District Court of Appeal in Los Angeles filed in November, Estate of Dayan. The case hinged on a no-contest clause in the […]

Read More

Theft is Not an Issue: Keeping Your Estate Planning Documents Safe

The question seems trivial but it’s still an important one to ask: Once you’ve created an estate plan with a living trust, advance medical directives and power-of-attorney for health care and finances, where should you store the documents? In your home? At the bank? Well, your estate planning documents have no street value. This means that you don’t need to worry about theft and that a safe deposit box at […]

Read More

When Privacy Gets in The Way: HIPAA and CMIA Waivers as Part of Your Estate Plan

You know the form that every doctor and hospital has you sign as soon as you’ve walked through the door? The HIPAA notice that ensures that your health care provider will keep information about your health history, treatment and medical status private? Well, if you create an estate plan with me I will actually have you sign another paper, the HIPAA and CMIA waiver, that overrides your original signature. Why? […]

Read More

Protecting Your Children’s Interests After a Divorce: The Usefulness of QTIP Trusts

Sam is young and in love. He marries and has children, but eventually the marriage fails. He ends up in a second marriage with Trina, who already has two children of her own. After Sam’s death, the children from his first marriage learn that their father’s estate will pass to their stepmother and then to her children. What went wrong? The short answer is that Sam failed to protect the […]

Read More

Navigating Exclusions and Exemptions: The Federal Gift and Estate Tax

Let’s start with a hypothetical scenario: 2014 was a good year for you, and with gas prices dropping ever lower you’ve decided to replace your energy efficient hybrid car with another, more luxurious model. Your only grandson, who is paying off college debt, drives a gas guzzling SUV. To help him save money you give him the hybrid, a 2011 model which the Kelley Blue Book values at $16,000. Next […]

Read More

Married But Childless: Do You Need an Estate Plan?

If you’ve been following my blog you probably know that many of the estate planning posts assume that a person’s heirs are his or her children. So what about childless couples, you may have been asking yourself, do they need a plan too? The answer is yes. At the very least, they should answer two questions: Who will inherit their property, and who should handle their affairs if they become […]

Read More

Make a gift and keep it: donating to charity

Americans are givers, and increasingly so; according to Giving USA 2014, corporations, foundations and individuals donated more than $330 billion in 2013. Adjusted for inflation, that is 3 percent up from 2012 and a 12 percent increase over 2009, the year the recession officially ended. More than 70 cents out of every dollar donated came from individuals, i.e. from people like you and me. Religious and educational charities benefitted most. […]

Read More

When Government Benefits Are at Risk: Supporting Your Child With Special Needs

About five percent of school-aged children in the United States live with a disability. Their diagnoses include vision, hearing and orthopedic impairments as well as serious emotional disturbance, autism and specific learning disabilities. In many cases these children continue to depend on the multi-pronged support of others into adulthood. If you have a son or daughter with a disability you may be wondering how you can help him or her stay […]

Read More