Asset Protection

The proposed legislation would, according to the Representative from Maryland, make it easier for family business owners to transfer their business to the next generation. A different approach to estate taxes comes from a House Republican, who proposes that taxpayers make annual payments for a certain number of years during their lifetime, instead of having…

For a healthy nest egg that will provide you with an enjoyable, worry-free retirement, you’ll need to start saving and investing now. It takes time and smart planning. Working hard on building your retirement nest egg right now? That’s excellent! Here are five key elements of successfully growing wealth from Nasdaq’s recent post, “5 Considerations…

Because they are relatively new, dealing with digital currency and other digital assets requires a little extra care in estate planning. Whether you think bitcoins are the global currency of the future or a financial disaster, many Americans have bitcoins, and practically all Americans have digital assets of some kind. Estate planning today needs to…

Converting sooner than later, could yield a bigger account to your heirs; do the math first Deciding whether or not to convert a traditional IRA to a Roth requires crunching the numbers. If your plan is to leave the IRA to an heir, you’ll want to work with an estate planning attorney to make sure…

Portability is not as well-known as other estate planning tools, like wills or trusts. But overlooking electing portability can become a costly mistake. Fortunately, there are some remedies. Given the size of the federal estate tax exemption, it’s not unusual for most people in the middle income tax brackets to forget to make a portability…

Conversations between estate planning attorneys and clients are as much about how to talk with children about the intentions behind inheritances, as about the legal means of distributing assets. A lifetime spent creating a family and an accumulation of wealth is an admirable accomplishment. The final note—an estate plan to distribute that wealth—can alleviate the…

As the discussion in Washington concerning repealing the federal estate tax heats up, some are wondering what the impact will be on charitable giving as part of estate plans. But according to an article in Financial Planning, “Charitable giving: It’s not just about taxes,” charitable giving has never been solely about tax planning. By donating…

To make your estate plan complete, consider a few practical steps that will address some common issues faced by grieving families when a parent or a loved one passes, as detailed by CNBC in a recent article, “Five ways to bulletproof your estate plan.” Consider a pre-paid, pre-planned funeral. This can save your family thousands…

Trademarks and copyrights are at issue in yet another lawsuit between the two companies representing the estate of Jimi Hendrix and his brother, who is accused of infringing on Hendrix’s copyrights and trademarks with products named “Jimi’s Cannabis Collection Purple Haze” and “Jimi’s Wines.” A complaint was filed against Jimi’s brother Leon Hendrix, Andrew Pitsicalis,…

Common sense would tell you that companies or individuals that might be interested in selling a piece of property, particularly with regard to art, antiques or jewelry, should not be the ones setting the value on that same property. A recent decision from the U.S. Tax Court scored one for common sense, with its decision…