“Harry” complained to me recently while reading over his estate planning documents. “These seem so…cold….so….’legal’…” he said slowly, searching for the right words.”I understand that these documents have to use this legal language so that my estate gets the benefits of the law, but I’m having a hard time knowing that these will be my [...]
With three daughters at home (two of them teenagers) you might think that our house is a continual mess of clothes, shoes, backpacks, electronic gear, school books, papers and what not.
And you would be right.
Patti and I are constantly badgering the kids to put everything in its place. Folded laundry goes in the dresser. Books [...]
A potential client called to ask a question that he claimed was “simple”. After a ten minute dissertation outlining a very complicated fact pattern – all I could say was, “It depends.”
He wasn’t very thrilled with my answer, and I can understand why. It would seem that lawyers sell more “Depends” than Walgreens and CVS [...]
Did you ever have a teacher that answered all of your questions with a question of her own? That’s the way I felt sitting in the nation’s largest annual professional estate planning conference held in Orlando last week. Attending this conference is like taking a full semester’s course load of post-graduate level tax law in [...]
A common question that I’m asked involves which expenses the estate can and should pay when a loved one dies. The question sounds something like this: “Craig, my father just died and I’m his personal representative. I’m flying in my wife and children, my sister and her family are all coming too. Can I pay [...]
Growing up, one of my favorite relatives was my Aunt Libby – who was a real pistol. Those of you who are Hoosiers and who ever frequented Libby’s Deli at the downtown Indianapolis City Market (Governor Bowen and Mayor Lugar could often be found at the lunch counter munching on Libby’s famous Bar-B-Q sandwiches) would [...]
Madison, my youngest daughter – asked me if she could go over to a friend’s house. I told her that she could - only to be vetoed by Patti. “She didn’t clean up her room like I asked her to,” Patti said. “And I don’t think that she should be able to go over to [...]
Let me start the new year off with one of the most common questions I encounter in my practice. That question goes something like this, “I’m not a millionaire and my estate is not taxable, so I don’t need a trust do I?”
Whether you would benefit from a revocable living trust does not really have [...]
Last week I wrote about the uncertainty surrounding whether and how the federal estate tax might be extended into 2010 and beyond. As of January 1st without further legislation being enacted the federal estate tax disappears for one year, only to be replaced with a capital gains tax system that is difficult for lay people [...]
If someone dies when their home, residence or other mortgaged property is “under water”, what should the personal representative of the estate do? Should they continue to make the payments on the property to keep it current until it sells? What happens if the sales proceeds are not enough to cover the mortgage note? Should [...]