Rich and Famous Planning: Sumner Redstone – an estate plan that is embarrassment for the man, the family and the company?
Mr. Redstone’s fortune is estimated at $5 billion. He could afford the best legal plan in the world. Yet, despite the assets and despite the multitude of involved lawyers, his estate planning and his last years are turning out to be a mess.Mr. Redstone tried to put in place plans that would ensure...
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Who will care for my dog?
When a couple owns a pet, the owners can assume that the survivor will continue caring for their pet (although that’s not necessarily true, at least in my own situation). What happens when a single person owns a pet? In 49 states (Minnesota is the only state that does not permit this) you...
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Executor of your Will: who should be named and what are his responsibilities?
An Executor is the person named in the Will who ensures that deceased person’s wishes are carried out after death, that all the assets are found, that all the debts are paid and all the money is distributed according to deceased person’s wishes. Responsibilities: The duties of an executor include: finding the Will,...
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Rich and Famous Planning: Lessons learned from Prince’s mistake
As most people by now know, the artist Prince died without a Will. The family is now set up for tens of thousands in legal costs and years of delay before the money gets distributed. When a person dies without a Will, regardless of the size of his estate, numerous problems come up....
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ABLE accounts
The newly enacted ABLE accounts permit people with disabilities to save money without jeopardizing their government benefits. Account holders can have up to $100,000 in these accounts without jeopardizing their SSI (Supplemental Security Income) benefits. Medicaid benefits do not get jeopardized regardless of the amount of money held in these accounts.These accounts enable...
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You may want to think twice before leaving an outright distribution and gift
There are many things that can go wrong with an outright distribution: Judgment creditor can seize a beneficiary’s inheritanceBankruptcy court can seize a beneficiary’s inheritanceAn incapacitated beneficiary can squander an inheritance before anyone can step in to help him.A divorce court can award some of the beneficiary’s inheritance to an ex-spouseIf...
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Rich and Famous Planning: B.B. King’s Estate – 15 children, a few million dollar and legal battles for many years to come
B.B. King acknowledged 15 children from 15 different women during his life. 11 of the children survived him. Yet the executor of B.B. King’s estate and the trustee of his Trust is not one of his children – it is his business manager LaVerne Toney, who had been consistently on his side for...
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Retitling Assets and Designating Proper Beneficiaries
You may have completed a Will and a Power of Attorney (all by yourself). You may think that your estate plan is in order and you can rest easily. However, you are likely less than half way done!In general, over half of all assets in the United States pass outside of probate. These...
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Estate and Income Tax Planning for non-US citizens. Part II – income and estate taxation of non-U.S. residents
Income Tax Planning: In general, non-U.S. residents are taxed only on U.S. sourced income. If the income is considered to be effectively connected with a U.S. trade or business (“effectively connected income” or “ECI”) then that income is taxed at graduated rates on a net income basis. If, instead, the income is “fixed,...
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Estate and Income Tax Planning for non-US citizens. Part I – determining U.S. residency
The very first question to determine during planning is whether a non-citizen individual is considered a U.S. resident for income tax purposes and for estate tax purposes. For income tax purposes, a non-citizen is considered a U.S. resident if the individual meets any one of these tests: (1) green card test or (2)...
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