Driving down the 405 in bumper to bumper traffic, Mary felt John’s anger rising. Mary had taken their financial advisor’s advice about visiting an attorney to update their estate plan. And John wasn’t pleased. As they crawled their way to the attorney’s office, John’s mind swirled. “Why does this have to take so much time…and I bet money too?” he wondered. “Why
This Wall Street Journal article from last month captures the often-painful discovery made by loved ones after a death that Trusts don’t control all assets – only assets for which title is held in the name of the Trust. *subscription link required (may not be required): email Lorie if you want a link to the article and don’t have a subscription to the WSJ* Kaiser Law
I thought that using a tortoise as a real-life example and a metaphor for estate planning was pretty clever, so I wanted to pass along this summer article from the Wall Street Journal entitled “Tortoise Estate Planning.” *subscription link required (may not be required): email Lorie if you want a link to the article and don’t have a subscription to the
This article from the New York Times (April 29, 2023) addresses planning opportunities and challenges for those without children. *subscription link required (may not be required): email Lorie if you want a link to the article and don’t have a subscription to the NYT* Our clients who don’t have children have a special opportunity and challenge in planning their estates. For
Happy Back to School to our clients with school-aged children! Why are we already bugging you about January 1, 2026?! As part of the 2017 tax cut deal, the estate tax exemption (amount that an individual can give away during their life and at their death without taxes) was doubled to $10M per person and indexed with inflation through the end
This article from the Wall Street Journal (July 9, 2023) addresses grandparents who are considering benefitting their grandchildren through the retirement account component of their estate plan. *subscription link required (may not be required): email Lorie if you want a link to the article and don’t have a subscription to the WSJ* I thought this would be relevant to many of
We are delighted to inform you that we are moving to a new office location as of April 12, 2023. Our new address will be 1306 Park Avenue, Long Beach, CA 90804. Our phone number will be unchanged and continue to be (562) 343-2843. We have been in our current space for over a decade! Our building is being sold to a
I wanted to reach out to you regarding part of the asset alignment of your estate plan. Specifically, I wanted to address any necessary steps you may need (with our help if you’d like) to take to ensure that any business interests you may own are integrated into your estate plan. Partnership Interests Each partnership has its own rules. If you
Just wanted to reach out and touch base before those of you with young adult children welcome some of them home for winter break. This is a reminder that for those Legacy Program Clients who have young adult children 18-25 years old, we are happy to provide simple HIPAA Authorizations and Advanced Health Care Directives (AHCD) as part of the program. A Health Care
The SECURE Act (which took effect in January, 2020) really impacted the rules for beneficiaries of retirement accounts. Many people haven’t caught up to the new rules. Clients who have significant retirement assets need to talk and think through their beneficiary designation choices in the context of the new laws. (continue reading below for notes) Let’s meet and check in for a fresh look at your