Archive for November, 2011
Assets Without Physical Form
There’s been a lot written about estate planning in recent years. That’s partially because federal laws on the taxation of estates have changed a lot in the past few years, and they will be up for discussion by Congress again before the end of 2012. Anything being discussed by Congress gets a considerable amount of attention from the media and, in the case of estate tax issues, tax and estate attorneys as well. Most of the discussion about estates is focused directly on physical assets and how they should be passed to family members and other loved ones. Physical assets include things like houses, cars, cash, stocks, bonds, and real estate. However, in a world of increasing technological advancements, assets without physical form are becoming more and more abundant and more and more valuable. Some Examples of Assets without Physical Form Do you own a domain name . . . you know, a web address? How about a Facebook account? What about an easily recognizable email address or a Twitter handle? Are any of those things valuable and worth passing on to your loved ones? If so, have you made arrangements to have ownership ...
Idaho legal news by Snake River Law
- Not The End But A New Beginning May 4, 2012In the next two months, those words will ring out in high school graduation ceremonies all across the country. And if you have a high school senior in your home, then chances are that things are about to change dramatically, both for you and your high school senior. There are a few things that you […]admin
- QTIP Trusts April 20, 2012A QTIP trust, or Qualified Terminable Interest Property trust, is a special type of A/B trust. Have I lost you yet? Not to worry… keep reading! Let’s start at the beginning. An A/B trust is a marital trust system comprised of two trusts, an A trust and a B trust. The A trust is typically […]admin
- More About Your Estate Plan April 13, 2012The revocable living trust is the basic building block of most estate plans. It’s the tool that allows your estate to avoid the expense, time consumption, and uncertainty of probate court, and it is the tool that can hold just about any of your assets. While revocable living trusts are ubiquitous in the world of […]admin
- Election Year Antics February 8, 2012Welcome to politics in 2012! Did you sign up for what we’re getting in America? In many ways, nobody is happy with the landscape. Most of us—Independents, Democrats, and Republicans alike—are unhappy (or even disgusted) with politics in general. It’s at the point of being most disgruntled, however, that we need to pay the most […]admin
- Assets Without Physical Form November 8, 2011There’s been a lot written about estate planning in recent years. That’s partially because federal laws on the taxation of estates have changed a lot in the past few years, and they will be up for discussion by Congress again before the end of 2012. Anything being discussed by Congress gets a considerable amount of […]admin
- Professional Guidance Through a Complex Process October 18, 2011There is a widespread misconception that estate planning is simply a method of directing one’s assets to designated beneficiaries in the event of death. That’s simply too narrow of a view. Estate planning is necessary—crucial in fact–in the event that you become incapacitated or otherwise need a loved one to manage your finances. This can […]admin
- Three Reasons for Having a Living Trust October 5, 2011There are a multitude of reasons to have a living trust. We can’t begin to cover them all, but we will touch on three reasons very briefly here. Reason #1: Protecting Property for Certain Beneficiaries When most of us think about estate planning, we think about passing our property to our family and […]admin
- Estate Planning and Business Succession September 22, 2011Most people hear the words “Estate Planning” and automatically think about wills, trusts, tax issues, and probate. The reality is that estate planning is about much more than just figuring out how to pass on your hard-earned assets. We’ve written a lot about the ways that estate planning benefits families. Today we’re going to talk […]admin
- A Hypothetical, But It Does Happen August 4, 2011Today we’re going to discuss a situation that happens all the time. It’s a situation that almost nobody thinks about, unless you’re an estate planning attorney, but it does occur often enough to talk about. Consider the following hypothetical: A woman, let’s call her Elizabeth, has passed away. Elizabeth is survived by four adult sons. […]admin
- Beyond the Allocation of Assets July 14, 2011Estate planning is about much more than just deciding who gets what in the event of your death. It’s also about avoiding unnecessary taxes, and in the event that you have minor children, making sure that custody of your children doesn’t go to the state. Yes, you heard that correctly. It’s simply not the case […]admin
