Asset Protection

The use of net gifting in estate planning can be effective, but in the case of Estate of Sommers v. Commissioner, 149 T.C. No. 8, a good plan did not have the intended result. Unexpected changes, including untimely death, incapacitating illness and evolving family relationships can undo even the best estate planning tools. A cautionary…

No one likes to consider their own death, or that of a loved one. But imagine having to cope with grief and loss at the same time that you have to tackle settling an estate, when there’s no plan in place. When there is no estate plan in place, the stress that accompanies dealing with…

Let’s face it: high net worth clients already know how to earn money. Their advisors need to deal with other issues that can be more challenging than generating income. For the average person, a financial advisor who knows how to generate good returns on their investments is pretty much all they need. However, for professionals…

Nothing’s more frustrating to a football fan than watching a terrific play turn into an epic disaster because someone fumbled the ball. Financial fumbles can be just as maddening, especially when you get really close to most people’s end zone: retirement. You know it is fall, when Saturdays are all about college football and Sunday…

It’s challenging to be faced with the business of settling an estate, when you are still grieving. That’s why it’s a kindness to put an estate plan in place that spares your family the additional pressure. Lacking an estate plan, families are often reduced to bickering over even the smallest decisions, and are often unprepared…

It feels great to have your estate plan completed—but that does not mean it is something you can file and forget. Life is all about changes, and your estate plan needs to keep pace. Just one good-sized change in your life—marriage, divorce, death—and your estate plan is not just out of date, but could lead…

People in their 50s can buy as big a house and as fancy a car as they want, but when it comes to real wealth, that’s in the hands of Americans who are 80 and older. When it comes to wealth measured in billions and millions, a recent article in Bloomberg, “Octogenarians Rule the Rich,”…

A good long-term strategy will trump any short-term political impact on your retirement plan. Remember to keep your perspective, regardless of your age and stage, and focus on strategy, not headlines. It is admittedly a worrisome time for Americans whose retirement is in the near future. Will Medicaid and Medicare still be in place, are…

Planning for the next generation to continue the legacy of a family farm, or any family-owned business, requires estate planning that begins decades in advance. Without properly prepared estate and succession plans in place, many farm families find themselves in a bind from a financial and legal standpoint. In many cases, the family farm must…

Wealthy people are not the only ones who use trusts in their estate planning. They also serve many different purposes for “regular” people. Here’s something that most people don’t know: if you listed your spouse or a child as a beneficiary on a bank account, from a technical standpoint, you have created a simple trust.…