4/16/2012

How to decide if you should get your own attorney or work with your spouse for estate-planning purposes

According to a recent post on Forbes.com, the importance of estate planning for married couples cannot be stressed enough. The seriousness of such forward thinking is even more critical in blended families which tend to present more opportunities for volatility following the death of a parent. The first issue for all couples to resolve is whether to be represented jointly by the same estate planner or for you each to go it alone. While joint representation can be more cost-effective, it can mean that both parities don't have the freedom to speak up about their individual concerns. Unless there is healthy communication between the spouses joint representation can be a recipe for disaster.

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2/27/2012

Alabama Residents Prepare for Possible Estate-Planning Changes: Part II

As a follow up to our last post, we now continue discussing the possible estate-planning changes contained in the President's recent budget proposal. • The low-risk grantor retained annuity trust or GRAT This estate-planning tool permits someone to put assets into an irrevocable trust and retain the right to receive distributions for the life of the trust. The annuity is equal to the value of what's been contributed plus interest.

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2/21/2012

Alabama Residents Prepare for Possible Estate-Planning Changes: Part I

If President Obama is successful in passing his proposed budget, beginning next year it will become much harder for Alabama estate planning attorneys to help individuals pass along money to their children and grandchildren without the government tacking a heftier fee. According to a recent article on Forbes.com, the President's recently proposed budget for 2013 would permanently restore the estate tax rates to those that were in effect in 2009 and limit several popular methods for shifting assets to future generations. Click here for a copy of Obama's budge proposal.

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12/22/2011

Billionaire Skates on IRS Penalties

Forbes reports that Leon G. Cooper, the prominent New York billionaire hedge fund manager, has managed to get out of paying the IRS $5 million in penalties. The IRS filed a complaint against Cooper when his personal private foundation was given a $43 million gift by one of his hedge funds. Cooper provided the start-up money for the fund, but did not personally manage the fund. His family wrote the gift off as a deduction in both 2005 and 2006. This kind of deduction, however, is not allowed by federal law.

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