“While many people have an inherent aversion to talking about both death and taxes, leaving a positive legacy is something we all care about. Unfortunately, numerous studies show that over 50% of Americans have no estate plan, no will and no medical directives. Why do so many people fail to properly plan for what happens […]
Thinking about suing to get your fair share from your dad or mom’s estate? Think again. From a post on the Colorado Construction Law Blog about a piece in the Utah Bar Journal: One of the most important points set forth by Mr. Adams [in the Utah Bar Journal] is to remind the parties that […]
Sometimes feel confused? Wonder why the left hand can’t understand what the right hand is supposed to be doing? Imagine what your family will feel like the day after you’ve passed on to the great beyond, then think about how a well-drafted trust might clear things up for them. I’ve written more than a few […]
“Family business succession planning is the cornerstone of any successful family business owner’s estate plan. As is often the case, however, planning for the inter-generational transfer of ownership and control of the business becomes complicated by the intra-generational conflicts of the business owner’s heirs. These onflicts among members of the second generation, if severe enough, can render the […]
Actually, this is not a quote but a paraphrase of some information I found the other day on the Internet. Can’t remember the source–I think I may have found it on Farm Bureau website and repeated in a variety of other places, including a Nationwide Insurance brochure I discovered online. With that, this: Almost 97% […]
So I sometimes forget that everybody’s smart, just on different subjects. For example, I don’t know much about physics. My teachers tried, but my head could only hold so much gravity and speed of light and such. Well, today I was online in an online forum where non-lawyers posed legal questions to attorneys. These were […]
There’s a misconception out there that if you use a revocable living trust in your estate planning, you avoid probate and save on all those costs associated with probate. Well, maybe and maybe not. First, in order to avoid probate, virtually everything you own has to be owned in a way that will do just […]
You’re the executor or personal representative of an estate (they’re the same thing, by the way) or a trustee of a trust. The owner of some NFA firearms has died, and you’re left to deal with the aftermath. (Of course, the real “owner” of any NFA arms in a trust is the trustee, but generally, […]
I listened to an interesting seminar yesterday titled “Estate Planning in Agriculture: Protecting a Way of Life” sponsored by WealthCounsel.com. Stan Miller and Robert Serio were the presenters. Serio covered the Farm Service Agency (FSA) Subsidy Programs and the Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS) Programs. He cautioned attorneys to be careful to not to do […]
“Serving as an executor or trustee is neither an honor, nor a game for beginners to play. Acting as an executor or trustee requires technical skills, experience, and an ability to deal with the family members involved. Nevertheless, clients often choose an executor and the trustee without fairly evaluating the needs of the estate or trust against the […]