We focus on matters that are of interest to senior citizens, and the laws that regulate individual retirement accounts are quite relevant. In December of 2019, the SECURE Act was enacted, and it established some new parameters for 2020 and subsequent years. In October of this year, a bipartisan measure that has been dubbed SECURE Act 2.0 was introduced, and it would mandate additional changes to the IRA guidelines. We will look at these provisions in this post, but first, we will review the … [Read more...] about IRA News: SECURE Act 2.0 May Become a Reality
Show Your Appreciation This Thanksgiving
Holidays can often put you in a reflective mood, and Thanksgiving is a special event that revolves around gratitude. When you sit back and think about the good things that have happened in your life, you can probably pinpoint people that helped you out along the way. Hold that thought for a moment and consider these statistics. According to a 2020 survey, 68 percent of American adults are going through life without any estate planning documents. You would expect younger adults to put it on … [Read more...] about Show Your Appreciation This Thanksgiving
Answers to Questions About 529 College Savings Plans
When you leave inheritances to your loved ones, you are essentially giving final gifts. A college education may be the greatest gift of all, and you can use a 529 college savings plan to pave the way. We will explain the details here through a question and answer format. What is the basic structure of a 529 plan? A 529 plan has a structure that is similar to a Roth individual retirement account. You make contributions into the account after taxes have been paid on the income. The interest … [Read more...] about Answers to Questions About 529 College Savings Plans
Why Do You Need an Estate Planning Lawyer?
A lot of people think that estate planning boils down to one simple task. You take a little bit of time to record your final wishes in a will, and the matter is closed. All you have to do is buy a worksheet online and fill in the blanks, and you are good to go. That may sound sensible on the surface, but in reality, it is a gross oversimplification. Let’s look at some of the reasons why you may want to engage an estate planning lawyer to help you put your plan in place. Make Sound Asset … [Read more...] about Why Do You Need an Estate Planning Lawyer?
Can You Include Your Dog in Your Estate Plan?
According to the Insurance Information Institute, there is a pet of some kind in more than 65 percent of American homes. Dogs are the most popular pets, and believe it or not, there is a canine companion in 63.4 million households in the United States. Since dogs have relatively short lifespans as compared to humans, most dog owners do not have any concerns from an estate planning perspective. This make sense, and in most cases, there are multiple members of a given household that could care … [Read more...] about Can You Include Your Dog in Your Estate Plan?
Provide Guidance With an Incentive Trust
You have options when you are planning your estate, and this is one of the reasons why you should engage an estate planning attorney. If you have specific objectives, there is some type of approach that can be used to address them. With this in mind, let’s look at the legal device called an incentive trust. Encourage Positive Behavior A large windfall of money can potentially do more harm than good if the recipient has not reached full maturity. You may have concerns about this if you are … [Read more...] about Provide Guidance With an Incentive Trust
Estate Planning: Emotions Often Lead to Inaction
Caring.com conducts surveys periodically to keep a finger on the pulse of the estate planning preparedness of Americans. The results are never encouraging, but things are actually getting worse. Their latest survey that has been conducted this year has found that the number of people who have a will or another estate planning document in place has decreased by 25 percent over the last three years. At this time, just 32 percent of adults in the United States have made the appropriate … [Read more...] about Estate Planning: Emotions Often Lead to Inaction
Five Things You Need to Know About Probate
If you use a will to state your final wishes, your executor would submit it to probate. This is a legal process that takes place under the supervision of a court. To plan your estate effectively, you have to understand this process, and we provide five key facts in this post. It serves a purpose. When you poke around on the Internet looking into the process of probate, you will find negative statements made about it. We will cover the drawbacks in some of the other sections, but it does serve … [Read more...] about Five Things You Need to Know About Probate
Estate Tax Exclusion Has Been Increased
Before we get to the increase in the estate tax exclusion, we should explain how taxes apply to inheritances in a broad sense. Many people assume that you are required to report an inheritance when you file your regular income taxes, but this is not the case. Inheritance is not taxable income for a logical reason. Assets that comprise estates are left over after the decedents paid taxes throughout their lifetimes. For example, if a person saved a certain amount of money every pay period for … [Read more...] about Estate Tax Exclusion Has Been Increased
What’s the Difference Between SSI and SSDI?
As elder law and estate planning attorneys, we often have to explain details about government benefit programs to our clients. There are some programs that serve related purposes that have similar sounding names so there can be some confusion. This is certainly true of Supplemental Security Income (SSI) and Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI). Need-Based Benefit Supplemental Security Income is a program that provides monthly income to qualified people with disabilities who have very … [Read more...] about What’s the Difference Between SSI and SSDI?
