I heard a story from another lawyer today, although it is sadly quite common. A grandfather, trying to do something for his grandkids as his dying wish, left those grandkids a bunch of money. His grandkids are still young - teens and preteens. He probably figured he would help them get a leg up by leaving them each about $1 million. So how is that a mistake? The problem is that he left those gifts to the kids directly, rather than using a trust. Why does that matter? Because when the ...
5 Things Your Kid Should Do Before Leaving for College
May is graduation month. (Congratulations, class of 2018!) Perhaps one of your children graduated from high school and is fledging the nest. Whether they are off to college or to some other great adventure, there are a few documents you should make sure your child completes before leaving home. (And if they've already left, call them and have them get on these tasks right away! Or next time they are home for a visit!) 1. Health Care Power of Attorney Now that your child is over 18, in the ...
Who Gets My Guns, and How?
Estate planning is complicated, but of all the assets covered in a plan, guns present the most unique challenge. In Idaho, approximately 57% of households own one or more firearms. Thus, as an Idaho estate planning attorney, we frequently encounter and address the challenges these items present. One complicating factor is the myriad of laws that apply, including federally and on the state and local level. Often, firearm owners don't consider these legal issues while they are alive. That ...
Exciting Announcements
We're excited to announce that we have joined the Boise Metro Chamber of Commerce. We also recently became an accredited business with the Better Business Bureau, where we are proud to have an A+ rating. March has been a busy month for us. Thank you for telling your friends, clients, and loved ones about the importance of proper estate planning. Please remember to send them to Learned Lawyer for their complementary estate planning education meeting. Or, if you could use a bit of ...
What to do with all this stuff?
One common issue for my clients is how to handle distribution of their "stuff" -- what estate planning lawyers call "tangible personal property." There's a really easy answer, and you can get started on it right now! But first, some terminology: Types of Property Lawyers divide property into two major groups: "real" and "personal." Real property is land and the objects permanently attached to the land (houses, office buildings, etc.). Personal property is everything else. We also ...
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How Will the New Tax Proposal Impact Your Estate Planning?
About the New Tax Proposal Republicans in the U.S. House released their new tax proposal yesterday. The full text of the document is available on the web. It's 429 pages and proposes to simplify the tax code, repeal the alternate minimum tax, and reduce corporate taxes. Of course, this bill is a first draft and is in the early stages of the legislative process. It is fair to say that this version of the bill will not become law, though many of its proposals might. So, how will the new tax ...
Add your child to your deed? No!
I get asked often why you shouldn't just add your child to your deed on a house or vacation home. Doing so is an awful idea and should never be done. And, listen, if you can get a lawyer to say you should never do something, it's probably a really bad idea. Here's why: Gift Tax When you add a child to your deed, you are gifting a 50% share of the house to that child. That gift is subject to the gift tax, and you would be required to file a Form 709 with the IRS to declare that gift. If ...
Check Your Beneficiary Designations!
Please, right now, stop what you are doing and take a few minutes to log into your retirement accounts and call your insurance broker to check your beneficiary designations. The theme this week has been people who have passed with no beneficiary designated or with the incorrect beneficiary designated. In one case, a man designated his wife as the beneficiary on his retirement account. They divorced, he remarried, and lived another twenty years. But he never changed his beneficiary from ...
Probate And Taxes Are Two Unrelated Things
I frequently teach classes on the basics of estate planning. (I do it for free, because I enjoy it, so if you want me to speak to a group of yours, please contact me!) As part of that, I often hear misconceptions about estate planning. One big one that keeps coming up is a perceived link between filing probate and paying estate taxes. Probate and taxes are two unrelated things (well, mostly unrelated anyway). Probate is the legal process for wrapping up a deceased person’s financial ...
