2010 has begun and we have entered the twilight zone of estate taxes. What will congress do now? Nothing — I originally wouldn’t have given this one much chance, but now I see this as a distinct possibilty Reinstitute 2009 exemptions retroactively (may be unconstitutional) Reinstitute 2009 exemptions non-retroactively Current Law for 2010 Beneficiaries receives [...]

It goes without saying that a safe deposit box should be used to store things of importance. For example Copy of your will Copy of insurance policies Titles to your house and cars Detailed list of bank and brokerage accounts, CDs and credit cards Marriage license / Divorce decree Expensive, rarely-worn jewelry Birth certificates Family [...]

Here are two great sites for getting quick estimates of real estate values. This can be very helpful before talking to a realtor or in helping to get a handle on estate size. Trulia also has started creating heat maps which allow you to see visually which geographic areas are hot (real estate wise). The site [...]

For those who are looking for ways to maximize the transfer on their estate, here is an aggressive (i.e., read not well tested in tax court) way of supercharing the commond credit shelter trust. The basic idea is to turn a credit shelter trust into a grantor trust of the surviving spouse. This allows the [...]

A new journal focused on estate planning, asset protection and other issues relavant to high net worth individuals.

Typically the drafting attorney will take care of deeding your property into your new revocable living trust (RLT). The attorney will normally include instructions for the client to notify their home owners insurance that the trust should now be named an additional insured. Unfortunately, this is often forgotten. Here is a form letter you can [...]

From a presentation given by attorney Tim Nay M.S.W., J.D at the NAPFA West Region Conference. Avoid springing powers of attorney (POA) because the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) and other considerations making springing powers increasingly problematic. Instead POAs should be immediate. If this is uncomfortable then the wrong person is being chosen [...]