\
- Seasonal Solutions: The Stages of Life & Estate Planning \
To everything there is a season. So it is with your Life & Estate Plan. This article uses a Seasons of Life theme to illustrate how your Life & Estate Plan may change with your personal and financial circumstances over your lifetime. Learn more about Life and Estate Planning and how your plans can change with the Seasons of your Life -- your personal and financial circumstances...
\
- Planning for Older Parents \
Mary Lynn Pannen is one of the nation’s leading experts on Geriatric Care Management and Home Care for seniors. As President of Sound Options, she has built a very successful home care business in the Puget Sound region. Mary Lynn recently described her company’s service this way: “Able to transform potentially stressful circumstances into readily manageable solutions, Sound Options works with clients with a wide range of needs and medical conditions.” I was struck with how similar her mission is to my mission in constructing comprehensive and well-thought-out estate plans. For those of you wrestling with plans for your older...
\
- Resurrection of the Death Tax \
The absence of rules for the estate tax is concerning. Greg Turza is a fellow estate planning attorney who practices in Skokie, IL. He read a recent article on the estate tax situation, and what follows is his summary. His post also includes a link to the more detailed article. And you are welcome to contact me with any of your questions. The good news is the estate tax is repealed! The bad news is, not for long. Since Bush's 2001 tax cuts went into effect the exemption from estate taxes climbed year by year from $1 million to a...
\
- Inventory Your Digital Assets \
I have an excerpt from an article by Dennis Kennedy, who is an information technology lawyer and legal technology writer who publishes a monthly column in the ABA Journal. You can find the full text of the article at http://www.abanet.org/lpm/lpt/articles/ftr03103.shtml. The rapid explosion of digital information and accounts is making this a topic of interest to nearly everyone of us. Inventory Your Digital Assets. I spent a large part of my early legal career as an estate planning lawyer. In the case of either death or incapacity, the first important step is to track down and identify all of the...
\
- "Dragon Tattoo" Estate Drags On \
A recent post by fellow estate planning attorney, Greg Turza offered an interesting commentary illustrating the need to clearly identify who your heirs are. I hope you find this an interesting story about this famous author and his death without a will. Stieg Larsson, the author of the best selling novel “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” (now a movie), died in 2004 without a will. His heirs are still fighting it out with Larsson’s live-in girlfriend of 32 years. She and Larsson never married which leaves Larsson’s heirs as the sole beneficiaries of his estate. Swedish law is the...
\
|