Proper Planning Can Reduce Financial Sting, Even If Emotional Sting May Remain  Charles Kuralt, the CBS TV Journalist and On the Road reporter said, “The love of family and the admiration of friends is much more important than wealth and privilege.” It is ironic that, when he died at age 62 of complications from Lupus, he had two families competing for his love, and more importantly, his wealth. Charles had a wife in New York, Suzanne “Petie” Baird Kuralt, and two daughters from a previous … [Read more...] about Proper Planning Can Reduce Financial Sting, Even If Emotional Sting May Remain

Fiduciary May Face Personal Liability for Improper Administration of a Trust or Estate In Estate of Sarah O’Hare, No. 2015 IL App (2d) 2-14-0073 (June 11, 2015), Virginia O’Hare (“Virginia”), mother of Sarah O’Hare (“Sarah”), her disabled adult daughter, appealed a judgment against her in the amount of $421,621.73. Sarah was born in October 1989 with significant birth injuries. There was a medical malpractice suit that resulted in a substantial settlement, including an annuity which paid Sarah … [Read more...] about Fiduciary May Face Personal Liability for Improper Administration of a Trust or Estate

Internal Revenue Code § 2503(b) allows each taxpayer to make annual exclusion gifts to any person or entity. The current amount of the annual exclusion is $14,000 annually. This means a husband and wife could give $84,000 to their three children ($14,000 x 2 x 3 children) free of gift taxes. If grandchildren were included, it could be substantially more. And these gifts are not limited to only descendants, so a taxpayer could make gifts to more distant relatives (nephews, nieces, and cousins) or … [Read more...] about Tax Court Approves Monster Crummey Trust

IRS Approves Spousal Rollover of IRA Payable to Testamentary Trust A spousal rollover of Individual Retirement Account assets is only allowed when the spouse is named as beneficiary of the IRA (and the other rules of Internal Revenue Code § 408 are met). A spousal rollover allows the surviving spouse to transfer the deceased spouse’s IRA into an account in the surviving spouse’s name and continue to defer distributions until the surviving spouse attains age 70 ½. Upon achieving age 70 ½ , the … [Read more...] about IRS Approves Spousal Rollover of IRA Payable to Testamentary Trust

With the rise of companies such as Legal Zoom, TotalLegal, LawDepot, and DoYourOwnWill.com, more and more consumers are attempting to create their own estate plans without the assistance of a lawyer. While it is possible to create a simple Will or other legal documents with the assistance of any of these companies or others, doing so can often lead to unintended results. Ann Aldrich, a resident of Florida, created her own Will in 2004 using an E-Z Legal Form preprinted Will. The Will listed all … [Read more...] about Do-It-Yourself Estate Plans: Unintended Results

Download educational eAlert template A in Microsoft Word format Download educational eAlert template B in Microsoft Word format Federal Court: Disclaimed Property Available to Pay Tax Lien Audrey Deinlein had three adult sons, Christopher (“Chris”), Ronald Jack, Jr. (“Jack”), and Paul. At the time of her death, she owned a condominium in Kentucky with a value of $303,000. The condominium had a mortgage of $104,352. After her death and before the property’s sale, Jack and Paul had made … [Read more...] about Federal Court: Disclaimed Property Available to Pay Tax Lien

In five recent Private Letter Rulings, PLRs 201442042 – 01442046, the taxpayers asked the IRS to respect a trust reformation done by a State court to effectuate the intent of the trustor by correcting a “scrivener’s error.” Failure to respect the State court ruling would have resulted in additional estate taxes being paid due to the inclusion of the value of the trust assets in the estate of the trustor. The IRS ruled that it would respect the State court reformation … [Read more...] about State Court Decisions Not Binding on IRS

On January 25, 2015, the New York Times published an article, To Collect Debts, Nursing Homes are Seizing Control Over Patients. The article focused on the trend of some nursing homes to use the guardianship process (also known as a conservatorship in some states) as a means of debt collection for seniors who owe money to the nursing homes. A guardianship or conservatorship is a legal process whereby a person is found by the court to be incapable of managing his or her affairs and a person or … [Read more...] about Advance Planning for Long-Term Care is Critical

Clients are often so concerned about their significant assets that they overlook their tangible personal property. Unfortunately, this can sometimes lead to family disagreements and even litigation in particularly contentious situations. A member of the American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys was conducting a trust administration for an elderly father who had died recently. The father’s trust simply stated that the trustee was to dispose of his tangible personal property with the rest … [Read more...] about Looking After the Little Details Can Pay Off

Trustor’s Intent is Paramount All states require that a Will or a Codicil to a Will be in writing and witnessed (unless the Will is a holographic Will, which means it is entirely in the handwriting of the Testator (creator of the Will)).  Florida additionally requires that all testamentary directives in Wills and Trusts be in writing and witnessed. Florida Statutes Section 736.0405(2)(b). Most states do not require that a trust or an amendment to a trust be witnessed. However, because a trust is … [Read more...] about Trustor’s Intent is Paramount