When long-term care insurance first became available about eight years ago, there were few customers. The product was full of holes, untested, and overpriced. Not surprisingly people took a wait-and-see attitude, mainly because it took a while for most people to even become familiar with the need for this type of protection. Fortunately, insurers have…
Recently, the Florida Supreme Court used a phrase we do not often hear in court opinions to describe a decedent’s actions in planning her estate: “Penny-wise and pound-foolish.” Just what prompted the Court to use this cautionary axiom? It was a woman’s use of an E-Z Legal Form for her will. You have probably noticed…
A recent Bloomberg.com article noted that some of the nation’s wealthiest families are renting addresses in South Dakota. Why? So they can shelter wealth from the Federal Government by limiting or avoiding the Federal Estate Tax and the Federal Generation Skipping Transfer Tax (the “GSTT”). The GSTT is another federal tax imposed on wealth transfers that is…
By this time, the tragic death of actor Philip Seymour Hoffman at age 46 has fallen out of the news headlines. Looking beyond his celebrity and the shock of his untimely death, we now know that this unfortunate event leaves the rest of us with the chance to consider how better estate planning could have…
When you established your irrevocable trust, the purpose was to guarantee your wishes were carried out even if your beneficiaries did not fully appreciate the terms you selected for the trust. There are times, however, when changed circumstances mean your well-planned trust will not do what you had planned. Nevada has adopted a favorable trust…
