The past few years have seen an unprecedented growth in Asset Protection planning. Unfortunately, this newfound interest in Asset Protection has created a large number of people seeking to profit from the buzz surrounding the field. The result is a puzzling and often fraud-ridden landscape of legal service providers claiming to be “Asset Protection Specialists”. […]
I really want to have to pay estate taxes. Sounds ridiculous right? Well let me put it another way: The Estate Tax Exemption is currently $5,430,000 per person. So between my wife and I we can pass on $10,860,000 to anyone we would like without having to pay any transfer taxes. Now, if we had […]
When you start a new job, you sign a lot of forms. Tax forms, health care forms and retirement beneficiary designation forms. Your first few days on the job you take the forms and read them, think about them, sign them and turn them back in to your boss or human resources department. After that […]
Estate planning is not just about reducing taxes. Estate Planning is also about making sure your assets are distributed as you want both during your lifetime and after you’re gone. The fact is that when most people think about their assets they include not only the obvious tangible wealth they have accumulated (house, cars, bank […]
People often tell me that they don’t need a Will or Trust because they own all of their property in joint tenancy. This idea seems to have gained a foothold in recent years, so much so that joint tenancy is sometimes referred to as the “Poor Man’s Will.” Unfortunately, holding property in joint tenancy at […]
Most people assume that probate and estate planning issues are only for the elderly. They think that it’s nothing to spend time worrying about until they’re at least 80. The fact is that seasoned probate litigation attorneys know better. Every family has to address these important legal issues sooner or later – sometimes much sooner than […]
Posted on November 15, 2008 Most estate planning attorneys tell you a lot about what they’ve done professionally, whose money they’ve saved, what schools they’ve gone to and that’s about it. Next, they jump into what you should do with your money and family (usually in that order). In my opinion, that doesn’t make me […]