Probably more than any other area, solo and small firm attorneys are looking to “outsource” as much estate planning work as cost-effectively possible. That is while still complying with ethical rules, the law, and the commitment to their clients. In larger firms where other areas of law pick up the slack, this is not as [...]
A frog was hopping along a dirt road when he came to a fork. He could choose to go to the right or left, but he was not sure which way to go. He consulted countless other frogs, and most told him to take the road to the right since it led to a big pond with lots of lily pads, plenty of flies, and lots of other frogs. But it was a longer path to get to a pond, and it would take a little more hopping to reach the destination.
During this time of great excitement for many college-bound students, parents are wrapped up in paperwork for the school, getting things ready for their child to move, filling out paperwork for student loans, tuning up cars, and filling out even more paperwork still. Unfortunately, this is also the very first time that some parents realize that their child is a legal adult, and many of the decisions and permissions they had regarding their child’s health and financial well-being have disappeared.
Not everyone is always honest. This is an unfortunate fact of life. But betrayal by a close friend or family member is all the more painful. The story of Danny Tate is not a pleasant one, but it illustrates an important but often understated benefit of having a good revocable living trust.
Most people wish to avoid their estate going through probate and save their family from the grief of a prolonged probate process.
One of the most critical areas of life and estate planning is providing protection for special needs children and beneficiaries. In supporting the needs of children and adults dealing with physical and mental challenges, the U.S. government is pretty good when compared to many other nations. However..
A recent Wisconsin Supreme Court ruling provided a big blow to “simple” Wisconsin probate avoidance plans and reinforced the need for a good revocable living trust by overturning a long-standing state and federal estate tax assumption. The court ruled that anyone receiving an inheritance through a “pay upon death” (POD) or “transfer upon death” (TOD) designation is not responsible for paying their fair share of state or federal estate taxes. Instead, those estate taxes are paid out of the residue of the estate. (http://bit.ly/ax3qLr)
While we usually include more personal law office news in the second article of the newsletter, there was just too much good news for the LGBT Community to skip this one. In late 2008, I wrote about the elections and problems with referendums. While several state constitutional bans on gay marriage were troubling, most of [...]
On Friday April 16, Jeffrey G. Marsocci taught the “Estate Planning Boot Camp” continuing education course for attorneys and life insurance agents. The course focused on the basic principles of life and estate planning using plain English rather than legalese. “Many attorneys looking to expand their practices into the life and estate planning area are [...]
Despite most people not knowing what a revocable living trust is, it is actually not some new invention from a few years ago. It has actually been around longer than gunpowder let alone being a new invention in the last century. A revocable living trust is simply a trust set up by a person during [...]