Estate Planning

• Posted in: Asset Protection

Forget silver, china, or linens; the best gift you can give a newly married couple is an estate plan! This is especially true if the marriage is a second marriage for either of them. Marrying a person means marrying their financial issues as well; this may include children or responsibilities from a previous marriage, a […]

• Posted in: Current Affairs

The federal estate tax is scheduled to disappear next year (in 2010); and although most people expect lawmakers to pass legislation keeping the estate tax alive, they also vaguely hope that the estate tax (also sometimes called the “death tax”) does disappear—at least for a little while. But this article in the Wall Street Journal […]

• Posted in: Estate Planning

Many people think that there’s no need to update your estate plan documents if none of your beneficiaries or fiduciaries have changed, but that’s exactly the kind of thinking that can lead to disaster. Estate planning documents are based not only on your own wishes, but also on federal and state tax laws. When we […]

• Posted in: Current Affairs

The Ohio Supreme Court has recently taken strong action against two co-owners in a company participating in an illegal “trust mill” operation. According to this article from the Associated Press, the two owners, Jeffrey and Stanley Norman, have been permanently barred from marketing or selling their trust products in Ohio after they were found to […]

• Posted in: Elder Law

The recent verdict by a New York jury finding Anthony Marshall guilty of stealing from his aging mother Brooke Astor while she suffered from Alzheimer’s disease is a hopeful one for elder abuse experts. Elder abuse is an issue that is all too common in our society, but one that rarely gets much attention. And […]

• Posted in: Asset Protection

The anticipated upcoming changes to estate tax laws have many people thinking that now is not the ideal time to create an estate plan; however, now is the best time to talk about estate planning with your family and loved ones. The winter holidays are coming up soon, a time for coming together and spending […]

• Posted in: Estate Planning

Some people start planning their estate as soon as they have children, others don’t feel the need to start planning until they reach an age where they feel mortality creeping up on them; but according to the Wall Street Journal article “Preparing for the Worst”, it’s never too early to start planning your estate. As […]

• Posted in: Asset Protection

This is a topic I frequently cover in my monthly estate planning presentations. Many people think that owning property in joint tenancy means they don’t have to create a will or estate plan. Why bother with a will when all the property is going to your joint tenancy partner anyway? In fact (some people may […]

• Posted in: Estate Planning

There are a number of mistakes that an estate planning and probate attorney will see over and over again over the course of their career. Many of these mistakes seem small, but can have a huge negative impact on your family after your death. More often than not these mistakes are made by people trying […]

• Posted in: Elder Law

In an ideal world elderly parents and their adult children always get along, and when those parents pass away their children quietly and respectfully follow their wishes regarding the distribution of their estate. Unfortunately, we don’t always live in an ideal world, and inheritance and estate planning can often cause tension between parents and children […]