by Arthur Geffen | May 6, 2011 | Estate Planning
WATCH OUT WHO YOU GET YOUR LEGAL ADVICE FROM AND KUDOS TO INDIANA! An Indianapolis insurance brokerage disciplined for unauthorized legal practice might now face millions of dollars in claims from more than 4,000 former clients. Richard Kennard filed a class-action...
by Arthur Geffen | Apr 20, 2011 | Estate Planning
Estate planning discussions tend to focus on the big picture, big money issues. Who receives what? Should we use a living trust to avoid probate? When estate taxes are a possibility, the menu of estate tax reduction strategies is considered. Yet, there are a...
by Arthur Geffen | Apr 14, 2011 | Estate Planning, Estate Planning Solutions
Here are 10 things NOT to do in implementing or revising your estate plan: 1. Use non-experts for advice. 2. Forget to fund your living trust. 3. Own large bank or brokerage accounts as joint tenants. 4. Forget to have your will and living trust reviewed every few...
by Arthur Geffen | Mar 30, 2011 | Digital Assets, Estate Planning
Executors fear the boom in password-protected internet services will leave grieving relatives unable to access accounts of the deceased. Bank accounts, ISAs and online music collections all require either email addresses, passwords or personal ID numbers. The...
by Arthur Geffen | Mar 30, 2011 | Estate Planning, Estate Tax
Myth: Without careful planning before you die, your heirs will have to fork over a big part of their inheritance to cover the “death tax.”Reality: There are plenty of reasons to put time into an estate plan, but for the vast majority of Americans,...
by Arthur Geffen | Mar 9, 2011 | Estate Attorney, Estate Lawyer, Estate Planning, Estate Planning Solutions
So here’s a way to help Mom and Dad if you have made a lot of money! Grantor retained annuity trusts, or GRATs, allow wealthy children to pass investment gains to their parents or grandparents without dipping into their $5 million lifetime gift-tax exemptions. “It’s...
