Today, I just set up my wife Kristie as my “legacy contact” on Facebook. That means that if I were to pass away, she would have authority to manage my Facebook page. This article from Slate.com describes some of the additional details and considerations. At first glance, it might seem like managing a social media page would be the least of
In our estate planning practice, we counsel a number of blended families. They face unique issues relating to the couple’s desire to balance caring for their new spouses with protecting their children from previous relationships. The attached Wall Street Journal article from earlier this year discusses a different aspect of the overlap between estate planning and family law. It’s a reminder
Kaiser Law Group has a sub-specialty in working with blended families. Our clients in second marriages who bring children from previous relationships are seeking to strike a delicate balance between taking care of their spouse and making sure that their children are protected. Accomplishing this balance requires a great deal of trust, open communication and flexibility. I’ve found that couples who
This quick article from the Wall Street Journal hits the three most basic estate tax concepts in a pretty concise and straight-forward way. If you have any questions about the interplay between the annual gift exemption ($14,000), the estate tax exemption (currently $5.43 million per person) or the lifetime gift exemption (it ties in with the estate tax exemption), take a
My “Millionaire Next Door” clients and their advisors would probably get a kick out of the story of Ronald Read – a former JC Penny janitor and service station worker who passed away earlier this year with $8 million. None of his friends and family knew of his wealth, which he left primarily to a local hospital and library in Vermont
I was sad to hear of the passing of Thomas Stanley, the author of the hit 1990’s book The Millionaire Next Door as reported from this Yahoo! Finance article. My Dad first gave me his book shortly after I graduated from UC Santa Barbara in 1996. The premise of the book was both simple and counterintuitive. Stanley and his co-author were
Forward-thinking estate planners and certified estate planning specialists are the most likely to be creating and following the new rules of estate planning as outlined in this Wall Street Journal article. One of the most important “new rules” is the enhanced focus on minimizing and avoiding capital gains taxes for higher-net worth families whose level of wealth isn’t likely to climb
This NY Times article from late November focuses on a film, “Black Heirlooms” that describes a family dispute over a relatively modest amount of money that ended up tearing the filmmaker’s family apart. Besides the strained family relationships, the article mentions that “money goes to lawyers that could have gone to heirs.” That sentence resonated with me – it’s exactly what
A recent article in the New York Times on the Donald Sterling saga illustrates the uses and effectiveness of incapacity planning as a part of estate planning. Although this case is by no means a model for how any of us would want our incapacity handled, it underscores how incapacity planning may work in the event of a spouse who loses
This NY Times article – about estate planners who focus on a more holistic approach to planning than those who laser in almost exclusively on tax strategies and savings – really resonated with me. I often describe my sweet spot as working with “Millionaire Next Door”-type families and helping provide a bridge between legal issues and family or emotional dynamics. These