Creating an estate plan is an important process every single person needs to undertake in his or her lifetime to ensure their final wishes are carried out and estate assets are distributed properly upon death. Despite this importance, many ordinary people still make excuses with one reason or another why…
Articles Posted in Estate Planning
Common Estate Planning Mistakes (And How to Avoid Them)
Planning your estate is an extremely important process and should be taken very seriously in order to avoid hassles or any extra delay that could come with passing your estate through probate or otherwise transferring assets to loved ones and friends. With proper planning and attention to detail, most folks…
Tips for Managing a Family Pot Trust in New York
Family post trusts are a special type of trust that allow a trustee to allocate distributions among a class of beneficiaries and are often implemented because of the increased flexibility they offer regarding distributions. Unfortunately for trustees, administering these trusts is hardly straightforward and he or she will often have…
Study Suggests Older Adults are Not Taking their Prescribed Antidepressants
A recent report by Reuters suggests that many older adults are abstaining from taking their prescribed antidepressants or continuing to use them as directed by their doctors, that according to a Dutch study examined by the news outlet. If true, the study highlights mental health challenges facing millions of people…
Combined Financial, Estate, and Legacy Planning
When an elderly family member is diagnosed with Alzheimer’s related dementia, it is time to discuss the details of legacy, financial, and estate planning. While connecting a loved one with support services is the priority when their memory is beginning to fade from age, formation or modification of financial and…
Dead Man Walking or Dead Man’s Statute?
In October 2018, new statutory legislation recommended by the Irish Law Reform Commission of the country’s cabinet considered a rule that would block those found guilty of killing their domestic partner or spouse from unjust enrichment attached to financial or estate proceeds. In the United States, spousal property is customarily…
New York DTF Investigation into the Trump Estate
New York State Department of Taxation and Finance (“DTF”) announcement that it will investigate President Donald Trump’s estate comes at a time when the federal Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) is pursuant of accurate reporting information about the presidential family’s wealth. Trump’s lawyers cite the 3-year federal and New York state…
Trump Tax Conundrum Will Likely Lead to Estate Rule Reform
The news that the First Family protected their assets from additional taxation is now the subject of Congressional debate over potential reforms to federal estate tax law. Following the announcement that the New York Department of Taxation and Finance (“DTF”) is looking into near future audit of the Trump family…
Why Millennials are Estate Planning Early
For most millennials, the thought of taking responsibility for end-of-life financial planning is a daunting if not unfathomable task. Estate planners acknowledge the hurdle between personal financial planning and estate or trust formation for purpose of end-of-life distribution of assets seems far off for younger clients until they are informed…
The Estate Risks of Nuncupative Will Formation
The release of Stormy Daniels’ memoir, Full Disclosure by St. Martin’s Press is a landmark case of a legal matter post the 2006 Lake Tahoe meeting with now President Donald Trump. The drama ensuing from the execution of a Non-Disclosure Agreement before the 2016 presidential election, has taught an inadvertent…