Houston Estate Planning and Elder Law Attorney Blog

Houstonians Can Protect Intellectual Property

Published on: June 26, 2014 | By McCulloch & Miller, PLLC

If you have identified all your potential intellectual property and never operated without professionally prepared documents, you will likely be confident about the value of what you worked so hard to create. And if not, now is the time to turn to your intellectual property. Here are a few things that you, as a startup founder, should do to protect your intellectual property and get started on the right track.

Have you planned to structure the sale of both your business and your intellectual property? To what degree are the products of your company products of an intellectual property? Who owns the property, you or the company? Just as likely, is it possible that a previous employer has claim to your intellectual property?

Heed some advice given in a recent Forbes article titled “Start With The End In Mind: Four Must-Dos For Intellectual Property.”

Preserving Genetic Material for Offspring – How Does this Affect Your Houston Estate Plan?

Published on: June 25, 2014 | By McCulloch & Miller, PLLC

As growing numbers of people use reproductive technology to have children later in life or overcome infertility issues, many affluent Americans are leaving behind “genetic material” that could conceivably add a new heir to the family.

Estate planning is all about tying together the loose ends of your life. Easier said than done, right? It seems with every passing generation our lives get even more complicated. Medicine, especially fertility medicine, continues to baffle the legal system. The perfect example of that is posthumous progeny (how is that even a phrase?) through cryogenics, in vitro fertilization, and entirely understandable timing. It’s been in the news before, but MarketWatch recently took up the topic in an article titled “Your frozen sperm could inherit your estate.”

Inheritance, unless you plan otherwise, legally flows from generation to generation or simply the closest kin in lieu of that next generation. It’s an age-old concept and logically follows the nature of human reproduction. On the other hand, that can get pretty complicated when we stop reproducing as they always have (as in only the ways they could) in ages past.

Inherited Stock and Taxes – What You Need to Know

Published on: June 24, 2014 | By McCulloch & Miller, PLLC

If you sell stock you inherited, the tax bill is keyed to its value at the time of the original owner’s death.

If you’ve just inherited stock or if you’re set to leave behind stock to your heirs, then it is well worth your time to get an idea of the tax treatment you will get and what it can mean in the context of your overall estate plan.

There a volumes to read on the topic of inherited stock, but thankfully Kiplinger posted a handy little note and Q&A on the topic last month with “The Tax Hit on Inherited Stock.” Essentially, stock is a partial ownership of something greater (a company) and the value of the stock is based on the company which is based on market which is based on when you buy and sell or how long you own the stock and/or who held the stock at each juncture. In other words, there are more than a few variables, as you well know, and these variables are what can make for a tax headache.

Nevada Asset Protection Trusts: “Seasoned” DAPTs

Published on: June 23, 2014 | By McCulloch & Miller, PLLC

A domestic asset protection trust (often called DAPTs, or just APTs) allows the settlor (the trust creator or grantor) to be a discretionary beneficiary of the trust, while at the same time assuring protection of trust assets from claims of the creditors.

Trusts are powerful legal machines and the Domestic Asset Protection Trust (DAPT) is a particularly intriguing machine, indeed. A recent article in Forbes sheds light on the concept and some of the finer points. The article, titled “How To Use a Nevada Asset Protection Trust To Safeguard Your Assets,” notes that in the same way all trusts are built they are not same, not all states treat them the same. It just so happens that a Nevada DAPT is a particularly well-crafted and well-situated machine for its purpose.

DAPTs in any state are a specific subset of trusts that protect assets by placing them within the safe confines on an irrevocable trust, but allow the owner to retain a level of control over the assets. In other words, it’s a way of having your cake and eating it too. It just so happens that trusts like these are also well-suited to multiple purposes and blend well into your overall plan for your assets during life and as part of your estate. In fact, a DAPT is never going to be your sole vehicle, because putting all of your assets into a protection trust is neither practical nor entirely defensible (it might not pass the sniff test for fraud). On the other hand, a DAPT may be your most precious holding.

The Houston Market is Heating Up for Business Sales

Published on: June 20, 2014 | By McCulloch & Miller, PLLC

While valuations aren’t out of hand now, offers may climb as competition heats up.

Your business is likely an inherent part of your life. The decision to part ways with your business is complicated. It can't be easy to hand over your life's work. Nevertheless, there comes a time when it’s worth selling the business and also a time when the market is right. The mergers and acquisitions market is heating up, so is the time right for you too?

The mergers and acquisitions market is fickle, but currently seems to be on an upward swing. A recent article in Forbes reports that this swing seems to be catching even middle market companies. The article has a catchy title, too: “Why More Entrepreneurs Will Get A Phone Call Worth Millions.”

Houston Families: Are Your Beneficiary Designations Updated?

Published on: June 19, 2014 | By McCulloch & Miller, PLLC

Finally your will is finished, and you can sleep soundly knowing that your heirs will receive the assets that you intend. Right? Not necessarily.

If you've got a will, you may feel like you are all set when it comes to your estate plans. But does your will have a say in all matters? Not exactly. Be sure to keep track of all of your accounts and your beneficiary designation forms — or else your estate might swiftly break apart and into the wrong hands.

This is one of those topics we have to repeat every so often so that each beneficiary designation you sign (or don’t) will stick with you as the important document that it is. A new echo came in the voice of Yahoo News in a recent article titled “How Your Ex-Spouse Could Inherit Most of Your Money.”

Balancing Retirement and Estate Planning in Houston: Can a Roth IRA Help?

Published on: June 18, 2014 | By McCulloch & Miller, PLLC

The question of which investment accounts you should tap first in retirement can often be a tricky one. But it gets even trickier if your goal is to leave money to heirs.

How do you balance retirement with your estate planning goals? After all, even if you plan to leave it all to your heirs, you still need to be sure you can take care of yourself to the end. What assets should you spend down first and how should you do so to maximize both end-of-life comfort and the inheritance to leave behind?

The Wall Street Journal pegs the solution in an article titled “The Most Valuable Assets to Leave for Your Heirs.” In the article there’s a strong case for the Roth IRA, and you may have heard the fanfare already. These accounts have been around for a while, but it has only been in the past few years, with the modification of a few laws, that they have become available to just about everyone. In fact, even traditional IRAs can be converted to one.

Choosing a Trustee to Control Your Houston Trust

Published on: June 17, 2014 | By McCulloch & Miller, PLLC

Here are three factors that your clients should consider when making this important decision.

How do you make sure you leave the trust in the right hands?

Picking a trustee can be a very difficult task. It is not the same as crafting words to paper – ink is cheap in a certain sense – because picking a trustee means picking the right person. You have to read people well and know the right people (or financial institutions) to pick. Financial Planning recently offered a few principals well worth mulling over if you’re in the process of creating a trust in an article titled “Selecting a Trustee? 3 Factors to Consider.”

Special Needs Planning with Trusts

Published on: June 16, 2014 | By McCulloch & Miller, PLLC

Caring for children with special needs can require a lot of financial and logistical planning to ensure they're experiencing the best quality of life possible.

There is much thought and planning that goes into caring for a child with special needs. And that planning should go beyond your lifetime, just in case you are no longer here to provide the care yourself.

How can you possibly ensure for the future of your children, especially when they have certain dependencies? CNBC recently touched on this topic offering up a solution – the special needs trust. If this topic touches you and someone you love, then take a moment to read the original article titled “Special needs trusts: Helping parents provide for kids' futures.”

Financial Planning Before Dementia Strikes

Published on: June 13, 2014 | By McCulloch & Miller, PLLC

Not only can dementia lead to poor financial decision-making; it can also make sufferers susceptible to financial fraud.

You cannot predict whether or not you or your spouse will develop dementia later in life. But because dementia is such a real possibility to face for many Houston households, it is one better faced sooner rather than later. Proper planning can reduce the inevitable stress on all concerned.

The issue of dementia in planning was recently addressed by MarketWatch in article titled “Stunning study on dementia, couples and money.” The results of the study mentioned are multifaceted. However, there is one obvious data point upon which the article rotates – the vast majority of households turn over financial control to the unimpaired spouse once the original leader of family finances shows signs of dementia. Unfortunately, dementia doesn’t work that way; it’s far too subtle. This means that many households may have waited too long, and then the unimpaired spouse is left to learn all of the finances and pick up any broken pieces from a spouse who may be unable to fully account for it all. That is a glass half empty, unfortunately.