Even for those who don’t follow the NBA, many have heard the news about Donald Sterling over the past couple months. This week, it was reported that Steve Ballmer would purchase the Los Angeles Clippers for $2 billion. Part of what made that sale possible was product of estate planning. Donald and his wife Shelly had […]
Estate planning used to be a niche carved out by attorneys who had been drafting wills and trusts for years. However, as technology has evolved, the options available to those looking for an estate plan have expanded. Not only are more attorneys preparing wills and trusts (which comes at its own risk), but the emergence […]
One of the most common estate planning requests I get is to draft a living will. While this is great because everyone needs one, I have found that many people are confusing a living will with another document, such as a will or even a living trust. This post will explain what a living will […]
With the passage of the American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012, the portability election for the estate and gift tax exclusion became permanent. While portability was available in 2011 and 2012, it was not until 2013 that it became a permanent fixture and changed the estate planning landscape for married couples. The portability election can […]
Stories involving celebrities and taxes pop up all the time. However, most of these stories deal with income tax evasion or tax fraud. A different type of celebrity tax story was released this week concerning the estate of James Gandolfini, the actor best known for playing the role of Tony Soprano. In what has been […]
Today the San Diego Union Tribune had an article titled “Communication about End-of-Life Wishes Does Not Frequently Occur.” (see link below) It was an interesting read for a couple reasons. First, it shined light on the fact that so many people are not setting up adequate estate planning. The article cites that 70% of people […]
It is common for people to approach me and say they need to setup an “estate plan,” but when I dive a little deeper and ask what they are looking for many people don’t know where to begin. While every person’s situation is different, the most frequent estate plan I draft for people centers around […]
With the passage of the American Taxpayer Relief Act, much of the focus has been spent digesting and discussing the estate and gift tax items that were made permanent by their inclusion in the Act. What has gotten less attention are the estate planning issues that were not addressed in the Act despite rumors of […]
