Probate records are open to the public and many individuals seek planning methods that may protect the privacy and security of survivors. Estate planning is one tool where individuals may keep the contents of their wills, details of assets, and private matters private. Interestingly, judges have the authority to seal…
Early in his career Stevie Wonder signed a contract with Motown Records. Like thousands of other recording artists, the terms were more beneficial to the record companies than for the artists. Wonder secured an attorney, Johanan Vigoda, to help him disengage from the Motown contract. Vigoda was also able to…
An aging woman posed a question to The New York Times “Ask Real Estate” columnist regarding her rented apartment. The woman asked if her daughter would be responsible for the older woman’s signed lease, if she passed away while still a tenant in the apartment. Her question appeared in a…
Our nation’s estate tax celebrates the hundred year mark in 2015. The often controversial estate tax stands to gain even more attention as the 2016 Presidential election draws near. The estate tax has been central to many debates during past Presidential elections. Republicans continue to call for the abolition of…
We’ve been taught since childhood to plan for college, plan our careers, plan our families, and plan for retirement. However, end-of-life planning advice is rarely followed. Survey after survey reveals that most Americans do not have estate plans. Recently, the Huffington Post published “5 reasons to Plan Ahead for the…
The ongoing James Brown estate battle continues and the complexities begin with the value of the estate. As you may recall, his estate plan called for his music empire to be put into a charitable trust and used to help needy students. Nevertheless, despite the fact that his will contained…
The goals of a family foundation may be ensured by appointing family members to head up the foundation. Children or siblings of the deceased are usually appointed to run these foundations, with the hopes that they know better than anyone unrelated to the family how to achieve and maintain the…
If you are planning to issue your next $100 million tax payment to the IRS via check, better make arrangements for an alternate payment method. The IRS has announced that it will no longer accept payments by check in excess of $100 million. In the modern grocery store, scanners are…
The IRS enacted a new law that required any estates filing Form 706 after July 31, 2015 to report the value of the estate within 30 days after filing the estate form. However, the IRS never issued any implementing regulations for the law. As a result, the IRS has recently…
Baby Boomers have long dictated trends and styles. Today’s Boomers continue to establish trends as they begin their down-sizing moves. Estate sales are a growing niche as older adults scale back their lifestyles. Estate sales have become big business as aging Americans decide that they’d rather let someone else handle…