Under the 2012 Tax Law, the Federal Estate Tax Exemption remains high for 2013. For 2013, the Federal Estate Tax is not due until the total value of the Estate is over $5.25 million. Last year the number was $5.12 million, but has gone up with the Cost of Living Inflation Index. The top Estate... [Read More]
Category: Wills
You Have to Prepare for Storms
In the same way that you have to prepare for physical storms of life, such as hurricanes, high winds, and snow storms, you have to be prepared for the other storms in life. Those storms can include stroke, dementia, heart attack, mental disability, your children’s divorce, car wreck law suits, and law suits by tenants... [Read More]
75% of Estate Plans Are Not Current
Studies show that approximately 75% of us do not have a current Estate Plan. They don’t match the desire of the individual to take care of themselves in the event of their mental disability or take care of their loved ones after they become mental disabled or after they pass on. If you don’t have... [Read More]
Regardless of the Election
Regardless of the outcome the federal and state elections, Probate Court Costs in North Carolina can be up to $6,000.00 per person or $12,000.00 per couple. Administrative costs, much of that including attorney’s fees, will still average 5% to 7% of your assets that move through Probate Court. The average time to move through Probate... [Read More]
You Have to Know the Truth
If you do not know and understand the truth about how different estate planning vehicles work and are administered, you cannot make good, informed decisions on what you want. If you do not understand that certain estate planning vehicles push your assets through Probate Court, the result will not be what you or your loved... [Read More]
Have an Experienced Estate Planning Lawyer Do Your Estate Plan
Beastie Boys musician Adam Yauch recently passed on. He added handwritten language to his Will in an attempt to limit the use and sale of his image or music for advertising and commercial purposes. This was not done properly by an experienced estate planning attorney, but was only a handwritten addition on the Will document itself... [Read More]
Keep Your Estate Plan Current!
Thomas Kincaid, famous for being the “Painter of Light”, recently passed on. He had been separated from his wife for two years and his divorce case had not been settled. Mr. Kincaid had a girlfriend that he had lived with for eighteen (18) months who he reportedly planned to marry when his divorce was final. ... [Read More]
Estate Planning for Blended Families Is an Adventure
Any time you are doing Estate Planning for Blended Families, it is always a balancing act. You have to balance the couple’s desire to take care of each other vs. their desire to take care of their children from their previous marriage. As usual, a Revocable Living Trust is the best foundational Estate Planning tool. ... [Read More]
Ready or Not, Here It Comes
Studies show that 75% of us do not even have a current Will, let alone the needed legal planning in the event we become sick and our loved ones are unable to authorize medical treatment for us. Nor do we have the proper legal planning in place for loved ones and friends to ask medical... [Read More]
Are Your Assets Titled Correctly?
After you pass on, what you own moves by how it is titled. If it is titled in your name, it goes to Probate Court, even if you have a Living Trust (aka Revocable Trust). If the asset is in joint names with right of survivorship (like with your spouse), it moves to the survivor... [Read More]