With the implementation of the Biden administration in the country, various changes are likely to occur including several related to estate planning. One change involves a reduction in the estate tax exemption while a second revision to estate planning law is an elimination of the basis step-up for inherited property. …
No one likes thinking about what will happen when their health begins to decline or what that person’s loved ones will do following their death. Failure to engage in adequate planning now can leave your loved ones in an undesirable situation and can also greatly increase the chances that these…
In the 2020 case, In the Estate of Mayberry, a Texas court ruled that the common-law wife of a deceased individual who died interstate lacked standing to remove the deceased’s daughter as an independent administrator. The court’s ruling was based on the perspective that the deceased’s daughter was not…
The estate planning dispute that occurred following Prince’s death in 2016 has arisen again after the Internal Revenue Service determined that Prince’s estate is worth approximately $163 million or twice what Prince’s estate representatives reported on his estate tax return. This difference resulted in approximately $39 million of penalties and…
One of the biggest changes to estate planning over the last few decades has been the increase in the number of estates that own digital assets. If you fail to create plans for how your digital assets should be handled after your incapacity or death, undesirable consequence could occur involving…
As we enter into 2021, the country remains in a state of flux. Following the United States Presidential election in November 2020, the beginning of January also saw the Georgia run-off which involved two seats in the United States. While the Republican Party had 50 seats in the Senate before…
In the November 2020 case of Ochse v. Ochse, a Texas court heard a case that could potentially have a ripple effect on how trusts are interpreted. In this case, a mother established a trust that provided the trustee was authorized to make distributions to both the trustee’s son as…
While many members of the Baby Boomer generation view Millennials as self-involved, the Millennial age group has been maturing. Some Millennials are even currently in their early 40’s. This means that many Millennials are reaching a point where they are having to engage in difficult conversations with their parents about…
Trusts are either irrevocable or revocable. Many people prefer revocable trusts because they want to avoid placing their assets into a trust whose terms they can never change. Simply put, irrevocable trusts are trusts that cannot be modified or terminated without the permission of the trust’s beneficiary. After passing…
Countless families have members who are black sheep. These individuals can end up influencing how the family passes on assets. Regardless of the situation, it is critical to evaluate and reflect on your beneficiary’s situation when it comes to estate planning. As a result, this article reviews some critical issues…