Much has been written about strategies for taking advantage of the historically unprecedented $5,120,000 exclusion from gift taxes that is available for gifts during 2012. Time is running out on the ability to make and document such gifts before the end of the year. Of course the furor is all about what happens if the [...]
A comprehensive estate plan includes understanding what steps will be required when you or your spouse dies. Tax planning advantages and the intended distribution of wealth to your loved ones takes place in stages and certain opportunities will be lost unless the proper plan is in effect when the first spouse passes away. This [...]
View The AFL Letter I have recently received an important accolade. I have been selected as one of Arizona Finest Lawyers, a peer reviewed validation that strives to identify the top 10% of Arizona lawyers. This was an unsolicited and no-fee accolade bestowed on me without any action by me. The validating organization is a [...]
Over my many years practicing law I have become a niche lawyer concentrating on estate planning. A growing part of my estate planning practice involves administration of trusts and estates. An inevitable part of trust or estate administration is resolving contested matters. Unhappily, a large number of those disputes become litigated matters instead of models [...]
Do I provide what my clients really want? It has been suggested that estate planning lawyers rely too heavily on what they think clients want, providing services that are the easiest and most economical to give, rather than listening to what our clients really want. As a result we give our clients hefty estate planning [...]
No creditor protection is available when property passes by joint tenancy. Creditors come in many shapes and sizes these days. Jury verdicts in even the most common accidents easily exceed insurance limits. Aging survivors are more susceptible to lapses of concentration while driving or otherwise. Why unnecessarily expose all of the survivor’s assets to [...]
In our planning process, we subscribe to the following definition of “estate planning”: To control my property while I am alive and well; to provide for me if I become disabled; and to give whatI have, to whom I want, when I want, the way I want; all at the lowest possible overall cost. We [...]
Most of us don’t plan to fail, we fail to plan. Dwight Eisenhower said, “when preparing for battle, I always found plans useless, but planning indispensable.” If you can envision it, we can make it happen efficiently with a minimum of delay, tax, and cost. Our goal is for you to control your property while [...]
When listening to sales pitches to buy estate planning or financial products beware of “The Ring of Truth”: A broken clock is right twice a day One size does not fit all! Is it an endorsement or is it paid for advertising? FLPs, trusts, annuities, asset protection are popular seminar topics because they are [...]
“Formal Updating” refers to meeting with your attorney periodically on a set schedule to determine if any changes should be made to your trust. There are four (4) principal reasons why this is important: Changes in the law. Both the federal tax law and state laws on issues such as asset protection, beneficiary rights, [...]