It used to be that estate and legal planning for same sex couples was drastically different than planning for opposite sex couples, since same sex couples were, by rule, not married. With the recent court decisions allowing same sex marriage, I’m contemplating whether this distinction remains true nonetheless. For now, at least, I believe the distinction remains important and that same sex couples should, for planning purposes, continue to treat themselves as unmarried. Here’s ...
Do I Still Need A Trust?
It used to be very common for estate plans to include a two-part trust scheme, often called an AB trust, designed to avoid or minimize estate taxes. In 2012, Congress finally passed “permanent” estate tax legislation, with the estate tax exemption set at $5,000,000 per person adjusted for inflation. In other words, married couples who have less than $10,000,000 in assets no longer face serious estate taxation concerns. It might be tempting to think that the once-common trust is now a relic ...
Estate Planning: Not Just For Elders And The Rich
I’ve been thinking about common myths about the estate planning process (creation of wills, powers of attorney, living wills, trusts, and the like), and I’ll be blogging about those myths for the next few entries. The first myth I want to tackle is that estate planning is only for the wealthy or the elderly. It is true that estate planning for rich people is somewhat different than estate planning for folks of more modest means. However, estate planning is mostly about making sure you, ...
