Regardless of your feelings about her music, her attendance at National Football League games, or anything else related to the popstar, it’s hard to argue that Taylor Swift isn’t a cultural phenomenon. In 2023, Taylor launched a multi-city tour that broke records for attendance, sales, merchandising, and gross revenue; the Federal Reserve credited her with boosting the country’s economy; and Time magazine named her Person of the Year. While interesting, these statistics only tell part of the … [Read more...] about What Taylor Swift Can Teach Us About Estate Planning
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What You Should Know About Conditional Gifts
Grantors like the idea of placing conditions upon a gift. In many ways, it’s the final opportunity to exert control or influence on the beneficiary. Most courts try to uphold the conditions as long as they are not void as against public policy or otherwise illegal or immoral. This article explores what happens when a Trustee fails to strictly enforce the conditions placed upon a bequest. Read on to learn more. … [Read more...] about What You Should Know About Conditional Gifts
North Dakota Guide to Avoiding Probate
A well thought out and comprehensive estate plan should accomplish numerous goals above and beyond simply creating a roadmap for the distribution of your estate assets after you are gone. One estate planning goal that should be included in most estate plans is probate avoidance. To help get you started, a Grand Forks attorney at Thompson Law offers a North Dakota guide to avoiding probate. What Is Probate? Probate, is the legal process that unfolds after an individual's death, serves to … [Read more...] about North Dakota Guide to Avoiding Probate
What You Need to Know about a North Dakota Will Contest
Along with heightened emotions, the death of a loved one often causes the surviving family members and loved ones to have questions about the legal process that follows. If the decedent left behind a Last Will and Testament, one of those questions may relate to the authenticity of that document and how to go about challenging the validity of the Will. If you are contemplating a will contest in North Dakota, it is important to have at least a basic understanding of the legal process involved. … [Read more...] about What You Need to Know about a North Dakota Will Contest
Use It or Lose It…Examining the Efficacy of the Spouse And Family Exclusion Trust or Spousal Lifetime Access Trust
The Applicable Exclusion Amount (“AEA”) permits individuals to transfer a certain amount of property either during life or at death without worrying about incurring an estate or gift tax. Passage of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 temporarily doubled that amount thereby allowing significant amounts of wealth pass from one generation to another without imposition of tax. As we draw nearer to January 1, 2026, and the sunset of those doubling provisions, attorneys and clients alike will rush to … [Read more...] about Use It or Lose It…Examining the Efficacy of the Spouse And Family Exclusion Trust or Spousal Lifetime Access Trust
What You Need to Know about the Corporate Transparency Act
Estate Planning attorneys need to understand multiple issues ranging from taxes to asset protection to create a comprehensive estate plan. Passage of the Corporate Transparency Act adds yet another layer to the already complex world of Estate Planning. Beginning on January 1, 2024, any company that qualifies as a Reporting Company needs to file a report with the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) regarding its Beneficial Owners and individuals who helped register the Reporting … [Read more...] about What You Need to Know about the Corporate Transparency Act
Do You Want to Discuss Dynasty Trusts?
Dynasty Trusts present a great opportunity to pass significant wealth on to future generations. If structured properly, the assets of a Dynasty Trust pass with minimal gift, estate or generation-skipping transfer tax consequences. As we approach the sunset of the temporarily doubled Applicable Exclusion Amount, practitioners and clients should consider whether a Dynasty Trust makes sense for them. Read on to learn more. … [Read more...] about Do You Want to Discuss Dynasty Trusts?
There’s No Better Way to Say “I’ll Be There for You” than with an Estate Plan
Matthew Perry died at the end of 2023. While it seems unlikely that Matthew’s estate will end up embroiled in a court battle as we see with other celebrity estates, that doesn’t mean that we can’t learn anything from his death and Estate Plan. Read on to learn more. … [Read more...] about There’s No Better Way to Say “I’ll Be There for You” than with an Estate Plan
The View from Heckerling 2024
Each year the University of Miami sponsors the Heckerling Institute on Estate Planning. The 58th Institute took place in Orlando, Florida in January 2024. The Institute is widely regarded as the premier estate planning program in the country as thousands of attorneys, trust officers, financial planners, and related parties descend upon the Orlando World Center Marriott Resort and Convention Center for a week-long educational and networking conference. As the Associate Director of Education … [Read more...] about The View from Heckerling 2024
Estate Planning Lessons from the Movies – Part II
It’s rare that a movie centers on an archaic estate planning issue, but that’s exactly what Martin Scorsese’s latest film does. While the movie received critical acclaim, it contained a surprising plot centered on real-life Estate Planning issues and the lengths to which certain individuals went to steal from the Osage Indian Tribe. This second in the series explores the real-life application of Estate Planning in the movies. Read on to learn more. … [Read more...] about Estate Planning Lessons from the Movies – Part II
