Planning for retirement is rarely a simple task. For one thing, a resident must carefully ask the basic question: How much do I need? Sophisticated models and projections exists to help make educated guesses about this answer. But it is never an exact science. That is because it is impossible…
A post over at Think Advisor last week provides some helpful insight into one financial and estate planning tool which might be appropriate for some New York residents. The tool is know as a GRAT – Grantor Retained Annuity Trust. As with many other trusts, one key purpose of the…
Families are complicated. No matter how well intentioned, virtually all family histories include some situations, dynamics, and incidents that cause immense disagreement, tension, stress, and frayed relationship. Virtually all families have some level of “dysfunction,” and no family is perfect. Estate planning attorneys are acutely aware of this reality, as…
The last major piece of federal tax legislation was the American Tax Relief Act (ATRA). It was signed by President Obama on January 1st of this year and was passed in order to avert to so-called fiscal cliff (we went over that cliff a few months later anyway). The tax…
Last week Forbes dove into a topic that families give little attention until the task is thrust upon them: picking burial and funeral vendors. For obvious reasons, most of us have little direct experience evaluating different options for quality or negotiating to receive the best value. For starters, as the…
Structuring an estate plan to account for taxes can be a complex task. While state and federal estate taxes make up the majority of discussion about taxation, there are other issues to consider. For example, there are ways to structure disbursement of various assets–insurance policies, retirement accounts, and more–so that…
Last week we discussed the recently unearthed will of former Sopranos star James Gandolfini. The document was filed with a Manhattan court late last month, with the actor’s assets being left to a wide range of people including his two children, wife, sisters, and several friends. Those earlier reports noted…
Last month many in the entertainment world were shocked and saddened by the sudden death of New Yorker James Gandolfini at the age of 51. His passing from an apparent heart attack is a somber reminder that none of us know for sure what the future holds. This week reports…
When someone passes away, the basic principles of settling the estate seem straightforward: collect assets, pay off debts, and distribute what is remaining per the deceased’s wishes. While that cursory sketch appears easy enough, in practice, dealing with these matters can take years, have a significant cost, and result in…
If you read a bit about estate planning you may come across the term “Per Stirpes.” It is an awkward phrase to say, and there is little reason to use it outside the context of inheritance planning. It comes up when one lays out their inheritance designations, perhaps with a…