The Plain English Attorney Blog
Far too many attorneys overcomplicate things, making topics convoluted and difficult to understand to the average person. This blog is committed to explaining legal planning topics in an easy to understand format, in plain English. Enjoy the blogs, and please let us know if there is a topic you would like covered.
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When it comes to estate planning, what you do with your estate is wide open. However, there are only two heavyweights when it comes to how you pass along your estate. You are either using a Last Will and Testament, or a revocable living trust as the base of your plan. But which one is best?...
When it comes to estate planning, there’s always more information coming our way. It’s also not just about tax updates or changes to law, but it can often be just better ways to serve our clients through technological advancements and new platforms. While state bar sponsored...
It's unfortunate, but there are numerous estate planning practices that have become standard operating procedure at law firms that are not necessarily the best thing for the clients or their families. In fact, they seem designed specifically to make more money for the law firm than they are to...
A general question I hear from new clients is whether or not they have to worry about "death taxes." The term "death tax" is actually political, and candidates use it as a campaign football. In actuality, there are several different taxes related to estates and inheritances that may or may not...
The Return of the Irrevocable Life Insurance Trust?
Irrevocable Life Insurance Trusts might be making a big comeback as a popular tool to help avoid estate taxes and to help pay those taxes and other expenses without having to liquidate assets. But how do these irrevocable trusts work?...
This question keeps coming up... "Does a trust need a separate taxpayer identification number?" It depends. In general...
* Revocable Living Trusts do not need an EIN/Taxpayer ID if the Trustor(s) are still alive
* Irrevocable Trusts generall DO need a separate EIN
* Hybrid Irrevocable...
When it comes to special government programs, what on the surface appears to be a good deal may not really be to your advantage or especially to your estate beneficiaries. Unfortunately, chances are that you are already invested in once these “deals” That is, unless you know all of...
