529 Plans for Tax Savings & Asset Protection
January 23rd, 2018
Qualified State Tuition programs, more commonly known as “529” plans are a great way to save for the education of loved ones. Contributions to the plans enjoy deferral of income taxation. When distributions are taken for qualified education expenses, like tuition, the distributions are income tax-free—even better! Normally, when a client has control over an […]
Asset Protection – Part 3
January 16th, 2018
This week, we’ll take yet another look at asset protection. In the Part 1, we saw that much depends upon whose assets you are looking to protect. We saw that, if the assets are yours, you have fraudulent transfer issues to consider. In Part 2, we looked at assets that are coming to you from […]
Asset Protection – Part 2
January 9th, 2018
This week, we’ll take another look at asset protection. Next week, we’ll delve even deeper into asset protection. As we saw in the last blog, much depends upon whose assets you are looking to protect. In last week’s blog, we saw that, if the assets are yours, you have fraudulent transfer considerations, etc., to consider. […]
Asset Protection – Part 1
January 2nd, 2018
Much depends upon whose assets you are looking to protect. If the assets are those that are coming to you, the debtor, then typically, those can be protected completely. We’ll look more at that in next week’s blog. But, this week, let’s assume that these are the debtor’s own assets to be protected. The debtor […]
Estate Planning for Major Life Events
December 27th, 2017
Estate planning attorneys do many things. We help people structure their affairs for the various stages of their lives. When the client is starting out, we may help them establish a basic plan. This might include: A Financial General Durable Power of Attorney. This would allow someone to make financial decisions for them if they […]
Selecting a Fiduciary
December 20th, 2017
Often, one of the most difficult choices for a client to make is the selection of people to make decisions for them. These fiduciaries may have great control over the client’s affairs, typically at times when the client would be most vulnerable or already gone. Let’s take a look at the various fiduciaries a client […]
Two Common Mistakes with Trusts
December 13th, 2017
Trusts are incredibly useful tools. But, like other useful tools, they do not fit every circumstance. They must be used appropriately. For example, a hammer is an exceptional tool to use when looking to drive a nail into a wall. But, if you hit the nail with a glancing blow, the nail will bend and […]
Who Should Be the Trustee of Your Irrevocable Asset Protection Trust?
December 6th, 2017
There is a constant battle among lawyers as to who should be trustee of an irrevocable asset protection trust. The primary school of thought is that it should never be the grantor, and some schools of thought believe it should never be the beneficiary. We disagree with both of those positions, but we recognize the […]
Estate Planning Goals
November 29th, 2017
Many people confuse asset protection, Medicaid planning, and estate tax avoidance. It is essential that we are very clear on the key distinctions of asset protection and the types of asset protection that can be obtained. The first distinction is identifying if protection is desired during life (now), after death, or both? Determining when asset […]
2017 Year-End Tax Planning Tips
November 27th, 2017
As the end of another year approaches, we thought it would be useful to provide some ideas and tips that people can discuss with their tax advisors over the next several weeks. When doing so, it’s wise to remember a few things: year-end tax planning can go beyond just reducing this year’s tax bill, as […]