Estate & Tax Planning

Preparing for Incapacity: The Documents You Need and Traps to Avoid (Updated April 2023)

February 18, 2014

By Diane B. Weinberg and Loraine M. DiSalvo In the last edition of The Passionate Estate Planner, we discussed the different levels of incapacity an ...

IRAs and Qualified Plan Accounts: Should You Pass Them to Beneficiaries Outright or in Trust?

September 17, 2013

I. Introduction and Summary. Most people today have a significant amount of their retirement savings in Individual Retirement Accounts (“IRAs”) or one of many other ...

Planning For Married Couples After the 2012 Tax Act: Should You Transfer Assets to Your Spouse Outright or in Trust?

July 30, 2013

In this installment of the Passionate Estate Planner, we consider one of the fundamental estate planning questions that married couples need to answer: Whether assets ...

What is a Trust?

May 22, 2013

For this month’s newsletter, we will go back to the basics to ensure that our readers can answer the basic question: What is a Trust? ...

Estate Planning for Blended Families – Let Me Count The Ways

October 1, 2012

As we are all aware, divorce is common in the modern U.S. One frequently cited statistic is that about 50% of all marriages will end ...

Importance of Proper Asset Ownership and Beneficiary Designations

July 31, 2012

This installment of the Passionate Estate Planner is a reminder that a well done estate plan includes not only properly prepared legal documents, but also ...

Ethical Wills Revisited: What you really want to communicate to your loved ones

May 7, 2012

Wills, trusts, powers of attorney, and advance directives for health care are all legal documents which deal with your assets and your health. These are ...

Possibly the Best Way to Pass Assets to Your Children or Other Loved Ones: GST Planning – Part One

June 29, 2011

Eventually, we all pass on. At that point, assuming we didn’t die broke, we will usually leave some form of inheritance to people who survive ...

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