Category: Trusts
If you do not have a will the state will provide one for you. And if you are married with young children and both parents die who becomes the children’s guardian will be up to the state’s court system. No will? No problem – the state will provide one for you. But how likely is […]
The United Jewish Appeal claims it was supposed to get the remainder of a trust set up by building mogul Bill Gottlieb, who died in 1999, according to a filing in Manhattan Surrogate’s Court. Gottlieb’s late sister’s husband, Irving Bender, eventually became the beneficiary of the trust, and allegedly blew $3.5 million meant for the […]
What has been missing for so long is a means of transferring real estate in a simple, probate-free process. In about half the states, that hole has been plugged. Probate can be messy, time-consuming and costly. Consequently, many people want to avoid it for their own estates. Unfortunately, probate is unavoidable if you own real […]
The dictionary defines beneficiary as “the recipient of funds” — from a will, trust, retirement plan or life insurance. But that doesn’t begin to cover the details and the differences. Here are five things you need to know. The term “beneficiary” involves receiving assets from a wide variety of legal instruments, and many people get […]
Planning for family members with special needs can be overwhelming, particularly when so many decisions may have lifelong consequences. Beyond figuring out the intricacies of government programs, parents fret over guardianships, how governmental services may erode and what legal documents they need. Children are raised to eventually be able to support themselves, but this isn’t […]
If figuring out the price of a car is tough, try setting up a trust. Published fee schedules offer some guidance, but since each firm includes different things, it’s like comparing poodles with pigs. The kind of deal you get depends on how much money you have, the complexity of the assets, and how badly […]
Democratic Rep. Linda Sanchez offered a baffling defense of the death tax Wednesday during a hearing examining the sometimes unbearable burden it places on family farms and businesses. People receiving food stamps have to pass drug tests or meet work requirements to receive taxpayer dollars, Sanchez reasoned, so it’s only fair that those “lucky” enough […]
Here are some developments in trust law that led to irrevocable trusts being not exactly irrevocable. Is an irrevocable trust truly unchangeable? In the past, it almost certainly was. But this irrevocability led to problems when the circumstances that existed when the trust was created changed greatly and made the trust less than ideal. Lawyers […]
It seems that the millennials are going to inherit a lot more from their baby boomer parents than just some tie-dyes, Steely Dan LPs, and Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers comic books. To the tune of $30 trillion, according to Federated. But will millennials invest that wealth? Wall Street is worried, so they are taking action […]
Trusts can range from simple to extremely complex, and are a standard tool in the anti-estate-tax arsenal. Trusts are a legal entity managed by a trustee for the benefit of others. Beyond that, however, trusts can get murky as there are many different types of trusts that are sometimes confusing to non-experts. Which one is […]
