Most legal matters have built-in complexities. Anyone who has purchased a home, for example, can appreciate the mountain of paperwork will dense legalese that must be filled out . Things are only made more challenging where there are significant emotions tied up in the dealings–like when the home was owned…
Art Collector Disappointed Her Kids Don’t want her Collection: Makes Backup Plan A recent Wall Street Journal article discussed how estate plans protect art collections. The feature focused on a widowed woman with an art collection worth $250,000. The woman and her late husband traveled extensively and amassed the collectibles…
It is impossible to predict exactly how every family member will respond in the aftermath of a passing. However, as experienced will and trust lawyers know all too well, there are many situations that dramatically increase the likelihood of controversy that leads to a contested estate. Mixed families, a large…
A quick Google search reveals about 10,000 articles providing 5, 10, 15, or more reasons why everyone needs an estate plan. While that makes a catchy headline, it may not be technically correct. After all, in most instances, it is impossible for minors under 18 years old to enter into…
Earlier this week we discussed the tragic death of New York actor Philip Seymour Hoffman. There are many estate planning lessons to take away for Hoffman’s situation, including the need to update a will after every life event. Hoffman unintentionally left out two of his children by not updating his…
Property rights and rules are some of the most complex (and arcane) areas of the law. Of particular importance for estate planning purposes, property rules allow different individuals to each have different “interests” in the same piece of property. It is not necessarily as simple as one person owning each…
Creating a will and drafting trust documents are forms of “transactional law.” That means that, unlike litigation, the purpose is not necessarily to “win” in a conflict over another. Instead, the purpose is to put plans into place that explicitly avoids conflict down the road. When doing this work it…
A somewhat “high brow” economic working paper has been making the rounds among estate planning attorneys, economists, financial planners, and policymakers in recent weeks. The article, viewable online in full, is entitled “Taxing More (Large) Family Bequests: Why, When, Where?” While the paper is quite dense, the central themes are…
Each day seemingly brings news of additional states that are joining New York in allowing same sex couples the right to marry. Although the new laws and court decisions represent a monumental victory for residents seeking to take advantage of the protections and benefits afforded by same-sex marriage, same-sex couples…
Discussion about the estate and trust tax issues usually centers on political debate about the rates and exemption levels or case-studies of the tax burden for famous or wealthy individuals. Far less often discussed is general information about the tax, including how much was actually collected, the total number of…