Estate Planning - Blogs
- Enhanced Life Estate Deed Question. What happens when the owner of the Remainder Interest ...
A *Florida Enhanced Life Estate Deed or Florida LadyBird Deed is designed to pass the property if any to a person upon the death of the life tenant while allowing the life tenant to do anything during their life. What happens if the person named in the remainder interest predeceases the life tenant? This is From A to B for life (with enhanced powers) remainder to C. If C dies before B, and then B dies the property will revert to A or A's Estate upon B's Death. This can be problematic when...
(May 15, 2008) - Eco-Funerals - Green to the Grave
We all know of ways to lead a greener life, but how about ways to go green after you leave the Earth? Eco-friendly funerals have been steadily gaining momentum among those who wish to live, and die, in the most environmentally conscious way. Although the rising trend in eco-funerals is a relatively new phenomenon in North America, Britain has been a leader in the area for some time. In fact, new legislation in the UK has further encouraged the trend by requiring reductions in the mercury...
(May 15, 2008) - Ban on Same-Sex Marriages Declared Invalid by California Supreme Court
In the case of In re Marriage Cases decided May 15, 2008, the California Supreme Court held in a 4-3 opinion that two state laws that had limited marriages to opposite-sex partners are unconstititional and held that single-sex couples have...
(May 15, 2008) - Could Health Ledger's "legacy" be teaching the public about the pretermitted ...
As reported earlier on this blog, Heath's will was drafted before he the birth of his daughter, Matilda, and left his estate to his parents and siblings. For a discussion of how Matilda could be entitled to his entire estate...
(May 15, 2008) - Wife sues husband, a lottery winner, for behaving badly
Donna Campbell, wife of lottery winner Arnim Ramdass, is suing him for misbehavior after he and his co-workers at the Miami International Airport won a $19 million jackpot. The fight is over Arnim's share of the winnings, $600,000 before taxes....
(May 15, 2008) - PBA RPPT Section's 2008 Annual Meeting
(May 15, 2008) - Special Needs Planning CLE
The American Bar Association Section of Real Property, Trust and Estate Law and the ABA Center for Continuing Legal Education are sponsoring a teleconference and live audio webcast on June 3, 2008 entitled Practical Aspects of Special Needs Planning Part...
(May 14, 2008) - Florida Unpaid Vacation? How can I collect
I did not get paid my Vacation pay, What can I do? Under Florida law, employees are entitled to make a claim for unpaid vacation pay that is vested. "Vested Vacation Pay" is defined as "wages" for purposes of section 448.08 requiring the employer to pay all attorneys fees and costs. If you win, you are entitled to receive unpaid vacation pay for the last 5 years and legal fees and costs associated with the case. Most cases center around a termination. If you are terminated from your job, you...
(May 14, 2008) - Estate Planners Needed World-Wide
It seems that estate planners will be in growing demand world-wide as the number of "high net worth individuals" (that is, individuals with investable assets over $1,000,000, not including a residence) grew at a rate of 4.5% in 2007. The...
(May 14, 2008) - Firefighters, First Responders, and Free Wills
(May 14, 2008) - San Diego: National Healthcare Decision Day
In San Diego, California [as well as across the United States], April 16 is National Healthcare Decisions Day. In San Diego, with over 1,000,000 residents alone, this is a very important topic. In California, the Advance Health Care Directive is a form which is included in a living trust to insure that your wishes are carried out if you cannot make them for yourself due to incapacity or other factors. A recent article in the San Diego North County Times highlights this issue. In this article,...
(May 14, 2008) - The Personal Injury Settlement -- Trust Law Interface
Henry L. Strong (Chairman and President, JMW SettleMaster) and David M. Cordell (Director of Finance Programs, University of Texas at Dallas) have recently published their article entitled Fiduciary Focus: The Prudent Integration of Structured Settlements and Post-Settlement Trusts, The Brief,...
(May 14, 2008) - Attorney Disbarred for Evil Conduct in Probate Case
Here is a report of a Texas lawyer whose unethical conduct in a probate matter caused him to be disbarred. See Disciplinary Actions, 71 Tex. B.J. 412 (2008): On Dec. 7, 2007, [Attorney], 64, of Dallas, was disbarred after a...
(May 14, 2008) - Recycling - Separating the Plastic Bottles out from the Rest
(May 14, 2008) - Some Senators Realize How bad the Situation is at the Social Security Administration
(May 14, 2008) - Forming an LLC for Rental Properties
It is worth repeating... Forming an LLC is a good business and personal practice if you own rental property. It can be also be incorporated into your estate plan. A good estate planning attorney will address this aspect as they review your holdings and look for ways to protect you and your loved ones. Of course, estate planning is not asset protection and vice versa. Read TLD attorney Brooke Pollard's excellent post on LLCs here on our General Counsel blog. Also, here is a link to the Secretary...
(May 14, 2008) - Can Antiviral Drugs Help Fibromyalgia?
(May 14, 2008) - How to set up a revocable living trust to purchase National Firearms Act (NFA) or Class 3 weapons
Do you want to purchase a Class 3 item? These include Silencers, Sort barreled rifles, and Machine Guns. You need to check and see if you are allowed to own the weapon you desire. 1) Check your state to see if that weapon is permitted. 2) Check to see if your local CLEO (Chief Law Enforcement Officer) will sign a Form 4. General information on what items can be purchased in your state can be found under your state's link on this website or from a local gun dealer who sells the items. Most state...
(May 14, 2008) - IHT-Solutions.net - A new perspective
Quite some months have passed since I last posted on IHT-Solutions and I was aware that this blog, faced the prospect of withering on the vine. I am keen that this should not be the case and so I have refreshed the look and feel of the site and broadened its perspective. Regular readers at the site will be well aware that the changes to inheritance tax brought about by last October's pre-Budget report has resulted in IHT being a far less contentious issue in the country than it had been for a...
(May 14, 2008) - Innocent Spouse Relief Not Permitted by Ninth Circuit
The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in California upheld a decision of the United States Tax Court (Tax Court) denying innocent spouse relief pursuant to Internal Revenue Code ยง 6015. Generally spouses filing joint income tax returns are both liable for any taxes due. In certain circumstances, however, one spouse may be entitled to so-called innocent spouse relief. One of the keys to obtaining innocent spouse relief, however, is making the request in a timely manner. There are a number of...
(May 14, 2008)