by Arthur Geffen | Feb 15, 2018 | Estate Planning, Estate Planning Solutions
If you expect to pass on millions of dollars to your spouse and kids, and re-evaluating your estate plan isn’t on the front burner, maybe this will light a fire under you. Depending on how your will is worded, your spouse could end up with a smaller...
by Arthur Geffen | Jan 18, 2018 | Estate Planning, Estate Planning Solutions
Got a dusty old binder with your will and estate plan? Even if you had your paperwork set up a few years ago, all of your documents are now out of date, thanks to new tax laws that went into effect at the turn of the year. “Blow the dust off and see if it’s...
by Arthur Geffen | Aug 30, 2017 | Estate Planning, Estate Planning Solutions, Estate Tax
The estate tax is a 40 percent levy applied to the portion of an estate valued at over $5.49 million for individuals or $10.98 million for couples. It’s a tax that applies only to the very wealthy, with only one out of every 500 taxpayers paying the tax....
by Arthur Geffen | Aug 1, 2017 | Dallas Estate Lawyer, Dallas Probate Lawyer, Estate Planning, Estate Planning Solutions
Most people think of trusts as something that only the super-rich need: a mysterious legal trick to evade taxes (and rack up tons of attorneys’ fees). In reality, trusts can be helpful for folks at any income level and are much more commonplace than most...
by Arthur Geffen | May 10, 2017 | Estate Planning Solutions, Estate Tax
The potential for estate tax repeal is a good reason to break out your estate planning documents for review. Many estate plans revolve around the funding of an exemption trust to hold the estate tax exemption amount and a marital trust to hold assets in excess...
by Arthur Geffen | Oct 20, 2015 | Estate Planning, Estate Planning Solutions
THIS IS WHY YOU NEED TO TALK TO YOUR ESTATE PLANNER TODAY. But here’s the rub. Congress in 2012 raised the estate-tax exemption to $5 million per person, indexed for inflation. The exemption in 2015 is $5.43 million with a top tax rate of 40%. And the new law...
