Publications
Corporate Transparency Act: Updating Legal and Other Documents
Practitioners need to modify their procedures to accommodate new filing requirements of the Corporate Transparency Act (CTA) took effect Jan. 1, 2024. Hers are practical steps practitioners should take to modify their practices to accommodate the new CTA requirements.
Navigating The Evolving US Estate Planning Landscape
Estate planning has evolved into a vibrant field marked by substantial transformations in recent years. These changes are propelled by updates in legislation, technological advancements, and shifts in societal norms. As a trust and estates attorney, I closely monitor these trends and understand the significance of staying abreast to offer superior service to my clients. Here are the key topics in contemporary estate planning and the advantages of engaging with either large or boutique law firms.
Generative AI: Revolutionizing Professional Services For Wealthy Families
The integration of Artificial Intelligence (AI) into professions like law, accounting, and investment management has been evolving over several decades, with significant acceleration in recent years. Here's a brief overview of AI's impact on legal matters.
Planning For Estates That Contain Firearms
Estate planning involving firearms requires careful consideration and adherence to legal requirements. By understanding the legal issues, choosing the right executor or trustee, considering a gun trust, keeping accurate records, and exploring buyback programs, you can ensure that the transfer of firearms in your estate plan is done legally and safely. Consulting with an attorney experienced in firearms and estate planning can provide valuable guidance throughout the process.
What to do When You win the Lottery
Receiving a windfall is both exciting and overwhelming; something estate planners should anticipate while creating an estate plan for their client. Even smaller windfalls can be a life changing event. Here are some recommended actions to consider taking to manage your newfound wealth responsibly.
Aretha Franklin’s Estate: Why Copyrights Require Estate Planning
The Aretha Franklin estate is a high-profile, and expensive, lesson in how not to manage copyrights in an estate. These copyrights should be considered assets and an integral part of the client’s estate. Such planning includes the management and distribution of copyright assets after the copyright owner passes away. Proper estate planning can ensure the protection and transfer of copyright ownership, as well as provide for the financial well-being of heirs and beneficiaries.
What Are the Duties of A Trustee?
Trust Agreement is the written document directing the management of the property, the payments of income and principal, and the scope and duration of the Trust. What are the Duties of the Trustee? The duties of the Trustee arise from the Trustee’s obligation to carry out the Grantor's intentions in creating and funding the Trust. There are five general duties of the Trustee – to be prudent, to carry out the terms of the Trust, to be loyal to the Trust, to give the Trust their personal attention, and to account to the beneficiaries of the Trust.
Strategic Estate Planning for UHNW Individuals
The economic, environmental, social, and political situations are and will remain, uncertain. The federal estate tax reverts back to $5 million after 2025. States and the federal government are increasing income tax rates, and inflation erodes accumulated wealth. If you are an advisor to UHNW individuals, you should ask, will their estate plans work in the face of these uncertainties?
Art and Art Funds as Alternative Investments
Tax Planning for Stock Options
Stock options, that is the contractual right to buy the stock of an employer by an employee at a discount price, remains a popular way for companies to compensate employees without incurring an immediate financial cost, and for employees to receive some participation in the equity of the company without incurring immediate income taxes. If you have stock options, whether Qualified or Non-Quantified, is important to consider not only when you might exercise the options during your lifetime, but also how you might hold the options after your death.
Exiting The US: Procedure And Taxes
A number of US citizens talk of leaving the country, few understand how complicated and lengthy the process can be. Covered expatriates
The law covers people who leave and are either: 1) US citizens or, 2) long-term permanent residents who have held green cards for eight of the last fifteen years who give up their green card. Both are subject to an immediate "Exit Tax" on unrealized gains on their assets, both in the US and worldwide, including grantor trusts and future gifts to US citizens and residents.
What Is A Trust?
What is a Trust? A Trust is created when you transfer the financial benefit of property to a third party while keeping the legal ownership and control by appointing themselves, a financial institution or another individual as the Trustee. In short, a Trust is set up by a Grantor, managed by a Trustee, and benefits the beneficiaries. Separate people can hold each of these roles, or the same person can hold all three.
What Is A Will?
Why should you have a Will?
A Will makes the transfer of your personal and real property according to your wishes into an orderly and seamless process at your death. The Will can be as simple or as complex as your desires require; but in all cases, it should clearly define what your assets are, to whom you wish those assets to go and who you nominate to administer your estate. This is the short answer to the question as to what a Will is. If you have other specific questions, you should consult your estate planning professional.
10 Ways to Prepare to Help Your Parents Manage Their Finances
10 actions you can take that help open the lines of communication and determine where you can play a role in managing your elderly parents’ finances. Asking questions about their long-term financial plans and what they've done to prepare for them will give you a better sense of how you can assist them with real estate, investments, and collections.
Estate Planning For Foxes, Entrepreneurs And People With ADHD
So, here are some helpful tips for you, if you are an entrepreneur or a person with ADHD and need to do some estate planning (or any type of decision making for that matter):
• Write it down: Writing your goal and your scenario down requires you to think through the process. Remember, if it is not in writing, it does not exist (at least as far as the probate court is concerned).
• Make snap decisions: In times of crisis, it is better to do something, even if it not the optimal thing, than to do nothing.
• Have a dictator: Find someone to whom you declare your goals and objectives. Give them the right to impose firm standards from the outside.
• Record what you have learned: When you do get something done, record it and learn from it, good or bad.
The Basics: Estate Planning In Confusing Times
Estate Planning is a process -- a process of maintaining and protecting your control of assets during your lifetime, and transferring your assets to your beneficiaries at death. The steps in the Estate Planning process are:
Feeling Good? James Brown Estate Inches Toward A Resolution
Could James Brown have avoided the lengthy controversy that is still going on in the South Carolina courts? Perhaps not, but helping musician clients gain a firm understanding of how their copyrights can be transferred, and who gets their termination rights, coupled with some creative planning, makes it less likely to result in long-term litigation.
10 Estate Planning Must-Dos Before You Travel
Many travelers manage risk by purchasing trip cancellation insurance. Savvy travelers see risks from a larger perspective, though, manage worst-case scenarios when traveling abroad. Pre-travel estate planning is at the top of their list as they take into account what might happen if they are injured or worse while far from home. Here are 10 items that you'll want to add to yours.
What Do You Do When The Family CEO Suffers From Dementia?
The result of such strategic planning by the family, and advised by their professionals, is that the Family always has a “Plan B” to deal with difficult situations, and understand the time and costs needed to implement that Plan B if something like mental illness does strike. Without those strategic options, the family is thrown back onto the tactics available through the courts that may be surprisingly costly and time-consuming.
