It’s Only a Matter of Life and Death
Everyone needs an estate plan, period. Yet there are so many people out there without one, possibly even you. My three favorite excuses for why people don't have an estate plan are (1) Everything will...
View ArticleAll In the Family: Keeping Your Cottage in the Family and Keeping the Family...
Many of you likely spent our Nation's birthday with your family and/or friends at a cottage (or "cabin" if you're from Minnesota like myself). If the cottage belongs to you, or to your grandparents,...
View ArticleWhat About the Kids? Choosing a Guardian and Conservator for Minor or...
Choosing a guardian and conservator for your minor or dependent child, whether you currently have children or not, will likely be one of the most difficult decisions you will make in completing your...
View ArticleDon’t Forget Fido: Taking Care of Your Pet in an Estate Plan
Most people have heard the stories about the millionaire leaving her dog a trust fund of $12 million, or the woman in Florida who left her pets a $3 million trust and a mansion worth over $8 million,...
View ArticleTailored Living Wills
When I was a paralegal in Colorado, the firm I worked for created a very specific medical health care directive that stated what each person wanted as far as end of life decisions, and if or how long...
View ArticleLife Goes On…Online
I recently read an article by Naomi Cahn, titled "Postmortem Life On-line," in the July/August 2011 publication of "Probate & Practice" by the Real Property, Trust and Estate Law Section of the...
View ArticleProperly Funding Your Trust - One More Reason to Call Your Estate Planning...
You can spend the time and money to create a trust that says everything you want it to say and that distributes all your assets in the way you want them distributed, but if you do not properly...
View ArticleHow to Hire An Attorney
So - you want to talk to an attorney because you have a legal issue ... or you think you have a legal issue, but aren't sure. Recently a friend expressed to me that it can be very intimidating to...
View ArticleWho Speaks for You When You are Unable - Designating a Patient Advocate
As an attorney in the Estate Planning group, my job requires me to think about the "worst case scenario" from all angles. For example, what happens if you are injured to the point of being unable to...
View ArticleWhen You Should Revise Your Estate Plan
You did your estate plan: You worked out who will make your medical decisions, who gets your stuff, and who will take care of your kids and/or pet if you and your significant other are unable to – you...
View ArticleKeeping the Family Farm in the Family
Like many Midwesterners, I grew up working on a farm. I lived just across the road and about a city block North of my grandparents' dairy farm in rural Minnesota and I grew up helping them on the...
View ArticlePlanning Ahead to the End – Pre-planning Your Funeral
It may seem morbid, and it is not something most of us like to think about, but planning your funeral while you are healthy and in a semi-emotionally neutral state is beneficial to you and your family...
View ArticleCharitable Giving: ‘Tis the season…to call your estate planner
Around this time of year many people are thinking of gifts they are going to give to their friends and family. However, many people also think about those less fortunate than themselves and give to...
View ArticleBe Organized Now, Save Your Family Time and Money Later
I have assisted in the distribution and administration of more than one trust and estate, and I speak from experience – the process is much easier on the family and takes considerably less time if the...
View ArticleMake Estate Planning Your 2012 New Year’s Resolution
I know what you're probably thinking - getting your estate planning done as part of your New Year's resolution doesn't sound like any fun, and it's not exactly something you can show off like dropping...
View ArticleMichigan Retired Residents: Are your estate planning documents compatible...
Attention snowbirds! Are you covered when you fly South for the Winter? Many Michigan residents are lucky enough to spend the winter in sunny Florida. If you are one these snowbirds, do you have a...
View ArticlePrenuptial agreements are romantic…Really!
Okay, I realize that a prenuptial agreement is not romantic in the traditional sense, but going into a marriage or civil union with the knowledge that you are committing to your significant other...
View ArticleAlternatives for Financing Education Through Gifting: Outright Gifts and...
Most planning with young families will eventually include discussions about saving for college. With college costs climbing, parents have to save more aggressively than ever, taking advantage of every...
View ArticleAlternatives for Financing Education: Section 2503(c) Trusts and Crummey Trusts
In our previous edition of alternatives for financing education, we discussed outright gifts as well as Section 2503(e) gifts. In this edition, we'll talk about Section 2503(c) Trusts and Crummey...
View ArticleAlternatives for Financing Education Through Gifting: State Sponsored College...
In this third and final installment in our series discussing some solutions in the college savings challenge, we'll discuss state-sponsored college plans. State-Sponsored College-Savings Plans (or...
View ArticleEstate Planning Tax Update
By now you should have all heard that Congress narrowly averted the Country's fall over the "fiscal cliff" at the very last moment (well, actually after the very last moment, but retroactive to the...
View ArticleIRA Planning and Charitable Gifts
Congress extended through the end of 2013 the popular "charitable IRA transfer." This permits individuals who have reached age 70 1/2 to make income tax-free distributions up to $100,000 directly from...
View ArticleMichigan Legislation in 2012
Congress was not the only busy legislative body in December. Our state legislature also passed, and the Governor signed, several important bills which affect estate planning for Michigan residents. We...
View ArticleSenior Living Expert Panel Series: Planning Ahead
Together with Erin Santos, a social worker with HomeCare of Holland Home, Varnum estate planning attorney Linsey Aten will be presenting as part of Holland Home's Senior Living Expert Panel Series....
View ArticleSame-Sex Marriage and the Effect of Windsor and Hollingsworth Cases on Estate...
On June 26, 2013, the United States Supreme Court issued decisions in the cases of U.S. v. Windsor and Hollingsworth v. Perry, two highly anticipated decisions regarding the constitutionality of...
View ArticleDynasty Trusts and the Relevance of the Rule Against Perpetuities
As famously phrased by legal scholars of old, the Rule Against Perpetuities ("RAP") mandates that, "[n]o interest is good unless it must vest, if at all, not later than twenty-one years after some...
View ArticleThinking of Establishing Florida Residency?: What to Consider Before Changing...
Many clients whose family circumstances and employment situation permit them to spend in excess of six months every year in Florida may elect to become Florida residents. The biggest advantage,...
View ArticleFlorida Homestead Exemption: What You Need to Apply
If you elect to purchase a residence in Florida, as opposed to renting, the positive result of changing your residence to Florida is that you may claim the Florida homestead exemption. In Florida, the...
View ArticleHappy National Healthcare Decisions Day: Why an Advance Directive is a...
Today is a day that, until recently, I wasn't aware had any independent significance other than being April 16. However, April 16 is – and has been for the past seven years – National Healthcare...
View ArticleBill Would Change Post-Death Decision Making in Michigan
Michigan law currently permits any resident to designate a "patient advocate" during his or her lifetime. The patient advocate is tasked with making health care decisions – often including the ability...
View Article“Ladybird Deed” Language Removed from Michigan Tax Guidelines
Many people have heard of a "Ladybird Deed," but few understand how Ladybird Deeds work. In essence, this type of deed allows property to pass automatically upon an individual's death without the need...
View ArticleShould You Transfer Unused Gift and Estate Tax Exemptions to a Surviving...
The word "portability" in an estate tax context refers to the ability to transfer a deceased spouse's unused gift and estate tax "exemption" (technically known as the "basic exclusion amount" or the...
View ArticleShould You Transfer Unused Gift and Estate Tax Exemptions to a Surviving...
In our previous post, we discussed the advantages of portability as an estate planning tool. However, there are some non-tax reasons why a couple might not opt for planning of this type. Almost all...
View ArticleKids and Money: Once a Millionaire, Always a Millionaire?
This column was originally published in the Grand Rapids Business Journal on June 12, 2015. Former NBA star Shaquille O'Neal once spoke at an NCAA convention, where he discussed how he spent his first...
View ArticleA Nationwide Right: Same-Sex Marriage Legalized in a Monumental Decision and...
June 26, 2015. A date that will undoubtedly be added to our history books and remembered for generations. This is because on this day, the Supreme Court of the United States guaranteed the right to...
View ArticleNew Regulations Expected this Fall May Limit Valuation Discounts in Certain...
For high-net worth individuals – particularly those whose assets include closely-held business interests or family investment entities – anticipated changes in the valuation of those assets for estate...
View ArticleJust the Two of Us: Estate Planning for the Childless Dual-Income Household
If you've had the privilege of hanging around a group of excited estate planners, at one point or another the abbreviation "DINK" may have been thrown into the conversation. For those who are not...
View ArticleClik here to view.
New IRS Form Required for Estate Basis Reporting Due Feb. 29
On January 29, 2016, just as tax season is heating up, the IRS released the final version of Form 8971 "Information Regarding Beneficiaries Acquiring Property From a Decedent," and its instructions....
View ArticleClik here to view.
Valuation Discounts to Family-Controlled Entities in Peril Under Proposed IRS...
On August 4, the Internal Revenue Service finally issued much anticipated proposed regulations under Section 2704 of the Internal Revenue Code, which regulations are intended to significantly limit...
View Article