I've encountered several cases lately where the personal representative of an estate or successor trustee of a trust is anxious to distribute all of the estate or trust within weeks after taking over the estate or trust after the death of the original owner.

They resist me when I tell them to "let things settle". I think sometimes they believe I'm just trying to run up the legal fees (even when I am not charging by the hour). ... << MORE >>

We hit the ground running on our Year of Updating for our clients who are in our CARePlan trust maintenance program. We had several clients come in for the January updating workshop and a number are already signed up for the February program.

All of the clients who attended the January workshop had changes they wanted to make to their planning documents. These amounted to what we call "word processing" changes because they could be expressed ... << MORE >>

Karen Klein, one of my favorite columnists and bloggers, has an article in BusinessWeek with a year-end tax planning checklist for small businesses.

In addition to the tax issues Karen Klein raises, I would add that this is a good time for small businesses to do the following:

(1) Corporations and LLCs should review their minutes book and make sure that minutes are up to date
(2) Companies with a Buy/Sell Agreement should ... << MORE >>

This article from the Denver Post is intriguing. It says that the state of Colorado will "work with" the U.S. Department of Labor to "share information and coordinate more closely ... on the problem of worker classification."  Tony Gagliardi of the National Federation of Independent Business shares the view that the current rules are confusing and not consistent among the different agencies, something I noted in this previous blog post.
... << MORE >>

Here are some words of advice  to people calling a law firm for the first time. When reviewing these items, keep in mind that there will often be a tension between the law firm's goals for the phone call and yours. You may want the answer to what you think is a "simple question."  The law firm wants to screen its calls to determine who it can help (as a client) and who isn't a ... << MORE >>

There are numerous ways to avoid probate. Advisors and their clients are becoming more savvy to the use of some of these probate-avoidance devices, including transfer on death beneficiaries for bank accounts, retirement plans, etc. As I've been known to say before, avoiding probate is good, but it should not be the tail that wags the dog. In other words, make sure that avoiding probate doesn't overshadow or prevent the other goals you have, such as treating family fairly or avoiding family disputes.

I've encountered an increasing number of estates where avoiding ... << MORE >>

One of my guilty pleasures is reading the Ask Amy newspaper column by Amy Dickinson. So I was disappointed to see this column about a bride-to-be who questioned her in-law's insistence on a prenuptial agreement.  Amy and the bride felt the in-laws were putting undue pressure on the groom by pointing out the absence of a prenuptial might mean the parents would not leave the groom an inheritance. Amy recognized that the parents might be concerned that the inheritance would be ... << MORE >>

With the recent death of Al Davis, there is a lot of speculation about whether his great wealth will result in great estate taxes and whether those taxes will necessitate selling some or all of Davis' ownership in the Oakland Raiders football team. Some commentators float the idea, apparently missing the point that with an unlimited marital deduction available to Davis' wife which would mean there would be no estate tax due on anything she inherits from her husband. Others report that Davis had a comprehensive plan in place that ... << MORE >>

Jay Adkisson pulls no punches in this piece in Forbes magazine on a recent decision of the Washington state supreme court. Adkisson points out a lot that went wrong in what purported to be asset protection planning but was really a game of "hide the assets." 

I share Adkisson's view that this wasn't legitimate asset protection planning. I used to say that asset protection planning had to be done when the seas are calm and not when the storm is ... << MORE >>

It's a sign of these economic times that I encounter a number of people trying to learn about settling the estate of a loved one who died owing more money than their combined assets could pay (an insolvent estate).

I can often help by reassuring them that their own liabilities are minimal. It helps to remember that the debts of the deceased person were not your debts. You will not be responsible to pay them merely because you were the spouse or the ... << MORE >>