On September 14, 2016, Richard Morgan was part of a panel discussion at the monthly meeting of the Estate Planning & Probate Section of the Atlanta Bar Association. The general topic of the discussion was Revocable Living Trusts (RLTs) versus Wills. The panelists tried to help attendees consider the actual advantages and disadvantages of using [...]
By Richard M. Morgan & Loraine M. DiSalvo Disputes that arise after a loved one dies can be incredibly destructive, to both assets and relationships. Such disputes can also cause the destruction of the loved one’s intended asset distribution plan. Careful estate planning, carried out with the help of an experienced estate planning attorney, can [...]
On June 12, 2014, the Supreme Court issued its decision in Clark et ux. V. Rameker, Trustee, et al, 573 U.S. _____ (2014), which is an extremely rare unanimous ruling. The Court held that, for purposes of federal bankruptcy law, an inherited IRA was not protected in the hands of the beneficiary in the same [...]
Everyone needs comprehensive estate planning. However, even though same sex couples who are legally married under the laws of a given state or foreign jurisdiction can now receive federal recognition of their marriages for all purposes, most states, including Georgia, still treat same sex couples as strangers for purposes of state. This means same sex [...]
By Diane Weinberg This time of year, we receive a lot of phone calls from distressed clients. They have spent the holidays with their aging parents and made a number of unpleasant discoveries. The house is uncharacteristically unkempt. Bills are unpaid, and donations to charities have been paid twice. Mom has started repeating herself and [...]
In past issues of The Passionate Estate Planner, we have emphasized the benefits which trusts can provide for those who want to transfer assets to their loved ones. To summarize, these benefits include providing protection from a beneficiary’s creditors or divorce problems, helping protect a beneficiary from predators who might wish to take advantage of [...]
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 types of tax deferred accounts generically known as “qualified plan” accounts (“QPs”), such as 401(k) accounts. Except for Roth IRAs or Roth 401(k) accounts which are funded with after-tax income, [...]
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 should pass to the surviving spouse outright, or in trust? While this has always been an important question, the enactment of the 2012 Tax Act in January 2013 may have [...]
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? As estate planners, we use Trusts for many different purposes; in fact it is something we often think of as the “Swiss Army Knife” of estate planning. Because it is [...]
As the bar for “wealth” moves north many individuals we meet are lulled into thinking that complex estate planning strategies are reserved for those other people with greater wealth than they. With the new $5MM exclusion amount (indexed for inflation) plus portability of a deceased spouse’s exclusion to a surviving spouse, which may allow a [...]
