Estate Planning

Settling and estate — especially an estate with a trust — can be lengthy, emotional, and complicated. Trusts and wills serve different functions and are handled differently after a person’s death. If an estate has both a will and a trust and you are both the executor of the will and the trustee (the person in charge of the trust), you will have additional responsibilities. The trustee must be...

Put your Covid-19 time at home to good use (and make your relatives happy) by pulling together these 5 groups of documents: Identity Documents Birth certificate, social security card, passport, marriage license, driver’s license, other types of licenses, divorce decree, Final Judgment for Name Change, Adoption Decree, Veteran file (DD214, DD215, Report of Separation, Awards and declarations, security clearance), professional ID cards, proof of graduation or GED. Insurance Documents Insurance documents include: life...

Breach of Contract Defenses There is a legal epidemic that is keeping pace with the COVID-19 epidemic:  breach of contract. That includes contracts that are contained in a 100- page document, an e-mail chain, a napkin, or just spoken words.  There are a lot of contracts out there that are getting broken because of the extraordinary events of the last several months. If you are the one doing the breaking, then you...

Commercial real estate transactions — including buying and selling, leases, and construction — can range from simple to complex. You may be able to manage a more straightforward exchange yourself without the need for assistance from a third party. For more complicated transactions, though, it makes more sense to bring in a commercial real estate attorney. What does a commercial real estate lawyer do? A commercial real estate attorney is a...

Planning A Must Have you priced nursing homes lately?  In Texas, you are looking at an average annual cost of $50,000.  And we are on the low end; nationally, the average annual cost is closer to $75,000.  New Jersey costs a whopping $109,500 annually.   Who the heck can afford that?    Hello Medicaid.     Medicaid provides several programs that are funded through a state-federal agreement.  One of the programs provides long-term nursing home care benefits...

Crisis Planning at its Finest.. There’s nothing like a good old-fashioned pandemic scare to bring up the specter of entire family units perishing at the same time.     If this idea is keeping you awake at night, then you need to take a moment and map out what would happen to your estate in the event of a catastrophe.  Review your will, trust, and the beneficiary designations on life insurance, financial accounts...

What does it mean to probate a will? Probate is the legal process of making sure the property and assets of a decedent (deceased person) are managed and distributed correctly. Probating a will essentially means proving that the will really was the decedent’s last will and testament and following the directions it outlines for settling the estate—distributing the estate’s assets and paying off the estate’s debts. While it is...

Creative Planning Around the SECURE Act $15 billion in 10 years.  That is the predicted new tax revenue from the SECURE Act.  So where is that money coming from?   Your IRA beneficiaries, that’s who.   The SECURE Act is old news by now. Most everyone knows that the much-beloved “stretch” payout for non-spouse IRA beneficiaries is a thing of the past. For all but a select few, beneficiaries must now draw down their inherited...

What Does A Transfer On Death Deed in Texas Do? There is a snappy little document called a “transfer on death deed” that is very much in vogue right now.  You can use it to transfer your real property in Texas upon your death, making it a valuable tool if your estate plan is geared toward avoiding probate. If you are leaping to your computer to download an internet form of...

Handling Cremated Remains Takes Planning So everything is going along fine and then – Bbam! - your Aunt Agatha dies and you find out that she had named you as her agent to transport her cremated remains to Hawaii and have them thrown into the ocean.  Or, hypothetically, your destination could be to Disneyworld, a golf course in Scotland or another ash-worthy site.   Your journey is going to require a bit of...

Traditionally estate planning involves planning for transfer of ownership on death. Wills, trusts, transfer on death deeds, beneficiary designations, joint accounts with rights of survivorship are all tools to transfer ownership of property on death. Just as important, or perhaps more important is planning for the rest of your life. A person can begin withdrawals from an IRA or 401K as early as age 59 ½ or as late as 72(under...

Estate Administration Swimming with the Sharks Chances are fairly good that you will, at some time or another, serve as an independent executor of an estate. Your chances increase exponentially if you are married (spouses are customarily named in a will as executor) or are an only child. Being an independent executor is a fairly easy gig if you also happen to be the sole beneficiary and there is no conflict with other...