Articles Posted in Estate Attorney

The internet offers many ways to create your own estate planning documents and you can take that route if you want to save money, but you are better off hiring a professional to insure all your documentation is legally valid. There’s nothing wrong with saving some dough by drafting your own estate-planning documents. You can…

End-of-life planning isn’t fun. In fact, it’s a drag. But it’s an important aspect of managing your assets and protecting your family. That’s why it’s surprising that 6 out of 10 Americans don’t have estate planning documents, much less a will. Surveys show only 42 percent of U.S. adults currently have estate planning documents such…

New York is one of 12 states that tax estates of decedents people who owned property in the state. Now besides that, there are other things you need to know when estate planning. New York doesn’t charge inheritance tax, but the estate tax comes with one big provision. Though December 31st of this year there…

The American College of Financial Services in Bryn Mawr, PA estimates the average cost of raising a child from birth to age 18 is about $250,000. But raising a child with special needs can easily cost double that amount. Having a plan with the right professionals and strategies in place can help parents tackle the…

The IRS and Treasury Department have joined forces to issue regulation regarding non-grantor trusts which have been used by wealthy people to avoid the property tax deduction cap in the new tax reform law. In Notice 2018-61, the IRS and Treasury say they plan to release regulations to provide clarification on the effect of section…

More people are more rich than at any time in our history. The number of 1 percenters has exploded over the last twenty years. But how much money do you need to have to be considered rich? Bloomberg News has given us an answer: $25 million. And that’s basically “welfare” rich According to Bloomberg, the…

Many people think estate planning means drawing up a will an the rest will take care of itself. That’s a common error people make. Here are a few others. Procrastination Surveys have found that not only do 50% of people with children not have a will, many don’t have any other estate planning documents drawn…

Under Medicaid laws, if you transfer certain assets five years before you apply for Medicaid, Your access to Medicaid can be delayed, the length of the delay depending on the amount of the transfer. While federal tax laws allow you to transfer up to $14,000 a year without having to pay a gift tax, Medicaid…

Last year Congress passed the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 which pretty much killed the aptly named death tax. It didn’t actually kill it just exempted those who leave less than $11 million to their heirs. Since the idea of no leaving a federal tax burden to their heirs, many people are questioning…

What are collectibles? According to the IRS, collectibles includes works of art, rugs, antiques, any metal or gem (with exceptions), any stamp or coin (with exceptions), valuable alcoholic beverages or “any other tangible personal property that the IRS determines is a “collectible” under IRC Section 408(m)”. Quite often people don’t have any idea how much…