64 year old Diana Nyad used her prior challenge of being stung in the face by jellyfish to use a special swim mask to protect her during her historic swim from Cuba to the U.S. She hadn’t “Tried & Failed”, she had “Tried & Learned” from her previous challenge of trying the open water swim.... [Read More]
Category: Living Wills
Yosemite Wildfires: Are We Safe?
Whether the Danger is natural like a Fire, or manmade like a Lawsuit, we want to make sure we, and those we love and what we own, are protected when danger strikes. With the wildfires racing through Yosemite National Park we think about what if those fires were burning up our home? Or what if... [Read More]
Kidnapper Leaves Victim Family as Sole Beneficiary
Kidnapper James DiMaggio left the grandmother of the kidnapped teenager as his sole beneficiary on his life insurance. This was another strange twist in the murders and kidnapping DiMaggio committed on his best friend’s family. Regardless of your Will or Trust, who you name as the beneficiary on your Life Insurance, IRA or Company Retirement... [Read More]
North Carolina Repeals The State’s Estate Tax
The North Carolina Legislature repealed the State’s Estate Tax in July 2013 making the repeal retroactive to deaths on January 1, 2013 or later. The North Carolina State Tax was tied to the Federal Estate Tax. In other words if you did not hit or trigger the Federal Estate Tax you did not trigger any... [Read More]
My Recent Automobile Collision Reminds Me of the “Fragility of Life”
Last Friday morning while I was heading on my way to a meeting for a Charitable Board a man ran a stop sign and rammed into the right back side of my car. He was accelerating when his car rammed into me. He told me that he never saw me, that he was lost, that... [Read More]
The recent FORBES advises that 30% of the wealthiest people inherited their money. Therefore, their family did good Estate Planning
If good Estate Planning is not done an inheritance is lost to Taxes, Probate Costs, Squander, Lost in Divorce, or Lost in Lawsuits. You may not be FORBES wealthy, but do you want to waste everything you’ve ever earned? If you do not do good Estate Planning to transfer your “Life’s Work™” (everything you’ve earned) to... [Read More]
James Gandolfini’s Poor Estate Planning
Unfortunately, James Gandolfini, the movie actor famous for a number of roles, including in the series The Soprano’s, has left a multi-million dollar estate, estimated at a worth of approximately 70 million dollars and used only a simple Will. There was no Estate Tax Planning and with the Will all of his assets will be... [Read More]
“Git ‘Er Done”
Larry the Cable Guy For many of us, our tendency towards perfectionism precludes us from moving forward. Our strong desire to “get it just right” precludes us from moving forward on what needs to get done. “Paralysis by Analysis” is a good description as it often precludes the perfectionist in us from moving forward on... [Read More]
You have an Affirmative Duty to do Estate Planning
Most states, including North Carolina, have laws in place that establish what your Estate Plan will be. Those Laws may be the opposite of what you actually want. In North Carolina under those laws, in a family with a husband and wife with children, in most scenarios, two thirds (2/3) of the parent’s estate, when... [Read More]
Summer Travel and Healthcare Authority
Summer is when many Americans are traveling out-of-state. They are on vacation to new places or to visit with loved ones or family. As we cross state lines one concern is that our Healthcare Power of Attorney a/k/a Healthcare Proxy might not be accepted in another state. For example if you have a Healthcare Power... [Read More]