I can bank, shop, and communicate from behind the screen of a computer or cell phone… Why can’t I complete my estate planning through a do-it-yourself online platform? While your preferred search engine might be where your estate planning hunt begins, don’t let a keyboard be [...]
One of the largest challenges in the modern practice of elder law and estate planning consists of issues surrounding capacity to sign documents. Our population is living longer than ever before and we now have one of the largest senior populations of all time. This number is [...]
There is a special legal term for when someone passes away without a Will. It’s called dying intestate. When somebody dies intestate, there is a standardized process by which the probate court distributes the deceased’s estate. This means that even if someone doesn’t undertak [...]
Sure, many of us have planned a surprise birthday party for a friend or a surprise visit to our parents for the holidays, but have you ever thought about planning ahead for your funeral arrangements? While it is not nearly as entertaining, planning for funeral arrangements ca [...]
Effective January 1, 2013, the annual exclusion rate for gifts will increase to $14,000, up from $13,000 in 2012. What does this mean? This means that a person can gift $14,000 per year to any individual without having to file a gift tax return. So I could gift $14,0000 to ea [...]
Digital assets can range from items of financial value like online bank and brokerage accounts to domain names, Twitter accounts and social-media pages. Sometimes accounting for these assets after the death of the owner can be a nightmare. It becomes even more difficult if th [...]
Over the last decade there has been a steep decline in estates owing estate taxes to the federal government. Only 0.6 % of those who died in the USA in 2008 owed any estate tax. Because of the increase of the filing threshold, the number of estates that needed to pay taxes dr [...]
