President Biden scored a win on some issues, but a loss on others when he signed the Inflation Reduction Act into law. The legislation left the estate and gift tax alone and made modest changes to the income tax. The Act will have a significant impact on those on Medicare because of the cap on out-of-pocket prescription drug costs and insulin.
As interest rates continue to climb, Estate Planning practitioners look to different planning techniques to take advantage of rising rates. Two common estate planning techniques work well in higher-interest rate environments.
Interest rates were at historic lows for many years. Those rates have begun to rise in recent months and may continue to do so. Practitioners need to monitor interest rates in order to advise clients regarding the most effective Estate Planning strategies in any environment.
Estate Planning is organizing your life to achieve your goals, both now and after you are gone. This includes: It has often been said that he who fails to plan, plans to fail. It is true in Estate Planning as in any other endeavor. Without planning, you will leave those you love with a mess … Read more
Estate planning mistakes are not uncommon – especially if you are considering everything that’s involved in the process. You create an estate plan with the best intentions, but that doesn’t mean you’ll always find yourself on the right track. It’s easy to make mistakes along the way, and if you do it can harm both … Read more
“Why you need an estate plan?” This is a common question that we get asked a lot. Below, we talk about everything you need to know about why you need an estate plan. It’s easy to continually put estate planning on the back burner. That’s especially true if you’re young and healthy. While you may … Read more
Whenever a client’s Estate Plan deviates from the expected disposition, it raises questions for the slighted beneficiaries. These questions usually revolve around methods to have the plan overturned. Most states give clients tools to protect their carefully crafted plans, even after their death.
Whenever a client’s Estate Plan deviates from the expected disposition, it raises questions. Most of the time, clients have consulted with a competent attorney regarding their reasons for structuring the plan the way that they have. Sometimes, other factors are at play and the plan doesn’t represent the testator’s true wishes, but rather, another individual’s testamentary desire. That’s undue influence and there are ways to guard against it.
If a client’s Estate Plan involves a revocable trust, then the client needs to decide who will serve as trustee after the client dies. Sometimes, clients have several undesirable options if they want to name an individual and they consider naming an institution to serve as trustee. This article provides a framework for clients considering naming an institutional trustee.
Someone once said “when all is said and done, more gets said than gets done,” and this mentality is at the root of that thing called procrastination. Most people live very busy lives these days and you do have to prioritize the way that you spend your time. However there is a great deal of … Read more