Tragedy in Japan Inspires Reflection: Are You Prepared for Disaster?
Only a few days ago the world was shocked by the terrible earthquake and tsunami in Japan. Our hearts and prayers go out the people affected by the tragedy, and many people are asking what they can do to help. The sudden violence of nature has many of us looking at our own situations as […]
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Tough Decisions Await Executors of 2010 Estates
If you are the executor of the estate of a decedent who died in 2010 you may think you’re in the clear. After all, there was no estate tax in 2010 right? Making distributions should be a piece of cake. Wrong. Because of the estate tax election available on the estates of 2010 decedents, administering […]
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The Tax-Man Cometh
It’s that time of year again; the time of year when everyone starts gathering receipts, assessing income and expenses, and making appointments with tax advisors. Tax time can be a very stressful time for many families, but—with the help of this article from MSN Money—perhaps tax season can be made a little bit easier. The […]
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Estate Tax Lessons from 2010 and Things to Watch Out for in 2011
We all know from the many news stories of last year that estate tax laws are not set in stone, they can fluctuate and change both at the state and the federal level; and as this article in Forbes points out, keeping up with those fluctuations can be of the utmost importance to you and […]
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No More Excuses, It’s Time To Plan Your Estate
The dust surrounding all the estate tax law “remodeling” is finally settling, and it’s time now for families to give their old (or future) estate plans some serious scrutiny. For all of you who were waiting until Congress made some firm decisions on the estate tax laws—there are no more excuses. Forbes writers Janet Novack […]
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Government Rescinds Medicare Coverage of End-Of-Life Planning
Apparently the suspicion surrounding end-of-life planning is not as far in the past as we might have hoped. The recent Medicare regulation which would have allowed the government to pay doctors who advise patients on options for end-of-life care was rescinded only days after it was enacted. Why such an abrupt turnaround? The reason is […]
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Resolutions to Last You Through the Year
What are your resolutions for 2011? A majority of New Year’s resolutions have to do with money and health—or more specifically, with saving money and losing weight. Unfortunately, most New Year’s resolutions don’t last through the first month of the year. But what if there were steps you could take in that first month, when […]
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Taking Time for End-Of-Life Planning
Advance Health Care Directives (legal documents which include a nomination of your health care agent, and your preferences for end-of-life care) saw a lot of press in 2009 when the Obama administration sought to include end-of-life planning in the new healthcare overhaul. The option was dropped after a media firestorm about “death panels,” but according […]
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At Long Last: What to Expect from Estate Taxes in 2011
It has been a long and uncertain year for anybody interested in the future of the estate tax, filled with a few ups, a few downs, and a lot of speculation. But after the recent passage of the new bipartisan tax bill all of the confusion and speculation is finally at an end, and it’s […]
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Estate Tax Update: The End Is Here (For the Next Two Years)
It looks like the long and weary road to estate tax clarity has come to an end. After a long week, Washington lawmakers voted to approve the tax package negotiated between President Obama and Republican leaders. Laura Saunders of the Wall Street Journal claims in her recent article that everything looks to be coming up […]
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