IRS Clamps Down on Wesley Snipes and Other Tax Protesters
444 words. This article highlights the recent trial of Wesley Snipes on criminal tax protester charges and transitions into a discussion of the fraudulent promotion of trusts, such as "pure trusts," "constitutional trusts" and "common law trusts" as a purported means of avoid income taxation. The article concludes by recommending that the consumer consult with a knowledgeable estate planning attorney for the preparation of their trust and estate plan.
Learn from Anna Nicole's Mistakes
The article examines Anna Nicole's Will and that she did not update it upon major changes in her life: death of a son, birth of a daughter, commitment ceremony to Howard K. Stern. It suggests that the reader learn from these mistakes and be sure to update their plan periodically.
Is a Power of Appointment the Same as a Power of Attorney?
The article examines a few legal terms that can be confused, like Power of Attorney, Attorney in Fact, and Power of Appointment. The article examines the terms and specifically, how Powers of Appointment can add flexibility to a plan.
Keep Your Cake - And Eat It, Too!
This article examines the Medicaid Income Only Trust. It gives an example of two women who are roomates in a facility: One who contributed to a trust and one who did not.
Planning With Retirement Assets
The article looks at retirement planning and looks at a few strategies such as ROTH conversion, paying the tax, giving to charity, etc.
Dealing with Aging Parents
The article examines how the parents took care of the kids and how the kids then take care of the parents. It looks at the need to plan in advance for wealthy parents (estate tax reduction), not so wealthy parents (Medicaid planning), and any parents (powers of attorney, etc.).
Medicaid Changes Make Pre-Planning Essential
This article discusses how long-term care costs can be a major financial drain. It examines Medicaid as a possible way to pay for long-term care. It looks at how the changes in Medicaid law could make it much more difficult to plan. It stresses the need for pre-planning.
Preparing for Health Needs
The article looks at the financial and legal ways to plan for illness. As part of the financial portion, the article examines the use of Health Savings Accounts. As part of the legal portion, it examines the use of health care powers of attorney and health care directives.
Preserve Your Wealth with Medicare Part D
The article provides a basic overview of Medicare Part D and why it is important from an estate planning perspective.
The Problems of Giving Everything Away
This article examines a case of a woman who titles everything in the name of the children. It examines why joint title and giving everything away may not be the best course of action.
Home Sweet Home
This article looks at the various tax and asset protection aspects of a home, such as gain exclusion, bankruptcy exemption, QPRTs, etc.
Five Reasons To Plan Your Estate Now
We can all come up with reasons to procrastinate and avoid doing what we should. However, there are many reasons to avoid procrastination when it comes to estate planning. Here are five of them:
In Estate Planning, Caveat Emptor
When we think of Estate Planning, most of us think of the kindly attorney consoling family members at the reading of the Will. We think of the family lawyer who is there to counsel us through illness and family discord. An attorney who focuses his or her practice on estate planning applies the knowledge of the complex laws to the situation at hand. Such an attorney explains the law to the client and is a trusted advisor and counselor. This area of the law is one of the most challenging as it requires knowledge of real property law, family law, business entities, income taxation, estate taxation, gift taxation, state and local taxation, Medicaid reimbursement, and other topics. Few areas require a practitioner to have such depth and breadth of knowledge as well as counseling skills second to none. Attorneys focusing in estate planning study long and hard in honing their skills and keeping abreast of changes in the law.
Privacy Protections: Don’t Be Overprotected
Recent federal laws and regulations have created new privacy protections for your medical information. These laws are known as “HIPAA” (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act). Now physicians, hospitals, health insurers, and other “covered entities” must comply with strict rules or face fines and potential criminal penalties. An innocent mistake would incur a fine of $100. More serious breaches of privacy, such as releasing information for malicious harm, could result in fines of up to $250,000 and 10 years in prison. Understandably, health care providers are being extremely careful about the release of medical information in the face of such penalties.
Preserving the Family Home from Medicaid Recovery
Many of us fear that as we age we will need medical assistance. We strive throughout life to maintain insurance to pay for medical expenses while trying to save. Many of us also want to leave something for our children, so that they have an easier time in life than we did starting out. Perhaps the most meaningful asset to leave is the family home, for emotional as well as economic reasons.
Planning It Right the Second Time Around
Increasingly, Americans do not remain with their first spouse for life. According to a 2001 study by the National Center for Health Statistics of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, twenty percent of first marriages face "disruption" (defined as separation or divorce) within the first five years. One-half of all first marriages face disruption within the first twenty years of marriage.
Choosing a Payout Period for Your Pension Benefits: Door Number One or Door Number Two?
For many, thoughts of retirement bring to mind relaxation and financial stability. However, before retirement payments begin and these years can be enjoyed, certain decisions must be made regarding how distributions will be paid. Generally, there are two options for taking distributions from a pension plan:
1.) Take the benefit over the participant's life expectancy (single life payout), or
2.) Take the benefit over a combined life expectancy of the participant and the participant's spouse or other named beneficiary, if permitted (joint life payout).
An Executor's Responsibilities
If you are appointed as executor (also termed Personal Representative in some states) of someone's Will, the person who chose you as his or her executor has a great deal of trust in you. That person views you as someone who has the knowledge, the capability, and the understanding to manage his or her affairs in a manner that would fulfill his or her expectations. You should consider it an honor, but one with a great deal of responsibility.
Common Myths about Estate Planning
A great deal of confusion remains over what constitutes a proper Estate Plan. Rumors, statements taken out of context, gossip, some bad characters that have bilked the innocent, and even turf battles over business interests have created widely held beliefs that just aren't correct. These stories have become myths. They can be harmful to you and your loved ones.
Trustee or Executor: A Critical Decision
If there was ever a doubt about the importance of choosing a trustee or an executor (also named a personal representative in some states), a case of selecting an executor in San Diego, California should convince everyone of the importance of making the right choice.
"Special Needs Trust" Needs Special Trustee
When children face a lifetime of significant medical expense, parents often turn to a "special needs trust." The beneficiary is usually eligible for Medicaid benefits, or soon will be. The goal of a special needs trust is to provide a source of money to benefit a child without jeopardizing this eligibility.
Family Trusts: Skipping Taxes and Generations
Should your generosity be passed along to future family generations with or without a trust? Increasingly, estate planning attorneys and their clients are considering that question.
Alzheimer's Disease, Nursing Homes, and Long-Term Health Care
A recent report from the National Center for Health Statistics will raise the spirits of every American. According to the report, the chances of living to a ripe old age of more than 75 years have reached an all-time high due to advances in medical science, a more health-conscious population, and a reduction in the number of deaths resulting from accidents.
Home Free with the Qualified Personal Residence Trust
Home owners can give their homes away, capture tax advantages, and continue to live in their homes for as long as they want, all thanks to the Qualified Personal Residence Trust. How this estate planning strategy works and who should consider it is discussed in this article.
Foreign Spouses and the QDOT
Today the international scope of business, education and travel brings more and more foreign nationals to American soil, where they take up residency, marry and raise families. Although foreign nationals enjoy many of the same benefits as citizens, there are distinct differences. One is the inablility to use the Unlimited Marital Deduction to reduce estate taxes. How to use a QDOT to protect the financial well-being of a resident foreign national is the focus of this article.
What GLBT Couples Need: Estate Planning
This article addresses the estate planning need of an often affluent - and frequently neglected - market segment. Gay couples need to implement estate planning strategies to achieve what married couples take for granted as an operation of law. This article explores both the problems and the solutions that GLBT couples face.
