Estate Planning

Exemptions to the Bankruptcy Marital Exception

Published on: December 13, 2019 | by Ettinger Law Firm

In the United States, married individuals almost always receive assets from their spouses without paying estate tax. One exception is the often-overlooked law involving marriage between a citizen of the United States and a foreign national. If you find yourself in this situation, it can create a unique challenge during estate planning.

The Foreign National Exception

Under federal law, if an American citizen is married to a foreign national and the first to die in the couple, the surviving foreign national is prohibited from using the standard marital deduction to inherit property. If the couple lives in the United States, the entire asset is subject to this regulation. If the couple lives overseas, however, only US-based assets are impacted by this law.

How to Better Protect Your Assets from Creditors: Lessons from In Estate of Holdaway

Published on: December 11, 2019 | by Ettinger Law Firm

A California Superior Court in the case of In Estate of Holdaway recently ruled in favor of a creditor who was attempting to collecting on a deceased person’s estate. Following the individual’s death in 2013, a creditor in 2014 filed a petition for probate and seeking compensation for $90,875 on a debt. This claim was based on four loans the creditor made to the deceased individual and in-home services provided to the deceased individuals. In 2015, a trial court issued an order showing why the creditor’s petition should not be dismissed for failure to prosecute.

Later in 2015, the trial court ordered that the case should be dismissed without prejudice. In 2016, the deceased individual’s son filed a competing petition for probate, which stated that the deceased individual had left all of his assets to a family trust. The trial court later granted this competing petition. After this, in 2017, the son rejected the creditor’s claim against the estate, which led the creditor to challenge this denial.

In arriving at its decision, the Court of Appeal stated that the trial court does not have a power authorizing it to extinguish the claim of a creditor in such a way based on the mere stipulation that others are interested in the estate. As a result, the appellate court reversed matters and remanded the case to the trial court.

Advantages of Non-traditional Estate Planning Tips

Published on: December 9, 2019 | by Ettinger Law Firm

An increase in new types of family structures, new estate planning laws, and new types of assets has led to the use of many new non-traditional estate planning tips. Hopefully, by reviewing some of the non-traditional methods in this article, you will begin considering whether your estate will benefit from any of these strategies.

# 1 – Appoint a Trust Protector

One of the most difficult (although obvious) parts of estate planning is that after you die, your estate planning language will be permanent. A trust protector can help you make sure that your wishes for a trust are carried out. Some of the powers that you can assign a trust protector include making revisions to the trust and resolving disagreements among trustees.

How to Stop Hesitating and Finally Write Your Estate Plans

Published on: December 4, 2019 | by Ettinger Law Firm

Many people understand that they should create an estate plan, but there are many reasons why they hesitate to do so. One of the most common reasons is that it can be difficult to accept that a person will not be around one day.

If you die without an estate plan in New York, however, you risk dying without an estate plan that could make sure that your assets are protected and that your loved ones receive what they deserve.

This article follows some strategies that you should follow to make sure that you end up writing your estate plan sooner rather than later.

How Beneficiary Designations Can Complicate Your Estate Plan

Published on: December 2, 2019 | by Ettinger Law Firm

Many people who have engaged in estate planning understand that beneficiary designations play an invaluable. Despite this, the value of beneficiary designations is overlooked by some people. After signing estate planning documents, it is critical to make sure that your beneficiary designations are consistent with the rest of your estate plan. Otherwise, the possibility arises that the intent expressed in your will or other estate planning tools might override beneficiary designations.

The purpose of this article is to review some of the other critical issues that everyone should consider when it comes to beneficiary designations and the potential complications that can arise.

# 1 – Be Wary of Naming Spouses as Beneficiaries

Estate Planning Documents Every Young Child Needs

Published on: November 27, 2019 | by Ettinger Law Firm

Parents can make medical decisions for their children. After a child reaches the age of 18, however, and is viewed in the eyes of the law as an adult and a parent’s ability to make these decisions ends.

Fortunately, through the use of a few simple estate planning documents, young adults can avoid this situation as well as many others.

# 1 – Financial Power of Attorney

Understanding the Role of Trust Protectors

Published on: November 25, 2019 | by Ettinger Law Firm

Trust protectors are becoming an increasingly common part of estate plans in New York as well as the rest of the country. A trust protector refers to someone who is appointed to look over a trust and make sure that the trust is not adversely affected by changes in the law.

Appointing a trust protector is not a decision that benefits everyone. As a result, this article reviews some of the biggest advantages that people realize throughout appointing a trust protector.

# 1 – Make Changes to a Trust without Formal Amendments

How is Inheritance Tax Different from Estate Tax?

Published on: November 22, 2019 | by Ettinger Law Firm

Many conversations mention estate and inheritance taxes together, but there are some substantial differences between these two things. Both these taxes, however, have one thing in common: not everybody pays them.

As a result, it is a wise idea to begin by deciding whether you will be required to pay either of the taxes.

Is Inheritance Taxable?

Advice on Handling Specific Bequests in Wills

Published on: November 20, 2019 | by Ettinger Law Firm

The Supreme Court of Montana recently affirmed a judgment by the district court distributing assets from a trust established by a husband and wife to the couple’s three children.

The district court had interpreted the trust creator’s handwritten codicil as a wish and not a specific bequest of the woman’s stock in a company that the couple had created and grown. Before the husband’s death in 1993, the couple executed identical wills under which the assets of the first spouse to die passed into a trust with the assets in the trust intended to be distributed equally between the three children of the surviving spouse.

As a result of the Supreme Court’s decision that the codicil was lacking in testamentary intent to specifically devise shares, this specific bequest was not passed on.

What You Should Know About the New York Survivor’s Benefit Program

Published on: November 18, 2019 | by Ettinger Law Firm

The Mississippi Court of Appeals recently decided that a man convicted of DUI manslaughter that led to the death of his wife can collect survivor benefits from the state. The late woman had designated her husband as a 40% beneficiary while the deceased woman’s sister was a 60% beneficiary. While Mississippi law permits spouses in the husband’s situation to still receive benefits, some states have prevented this type of result by altering statutory language. The husband previously pleaded and was sentenced to 25 years in prison with 10 years suspended and 15 to serve. The man later received a separate two-year sentence for possession of contraband.

While the Mississippi Court’s decision might seem strange, it emphasizes the importance of understanding the basics about the New York Survivor’s Benefit Program, which will be briefly reviewed in this article.

The Role of the New York Survivor’s Benefits Program