Archive for the ‘ Estates & Trusts ’ Category
eDivvyup.com Helps Executors & Trustees with Personal Property
I recently found the webite eDivvyup.com, which offers a technological solution to a common problem for executors, personal representatives, trustees, and other fiduciaries: dividing up personal property among beneficiaries of the estate. eDivvyup.com provides an eBay-like auction platform where beneficiaries can bid on items of personal property that the fiduciary posts to the site, with or [...]
Florida Elective Share and Trusts
Florida elective share laws are notoriously thorny. The principle is simple: The spouse of deceased Florida resident is guaranteed an inheritance of 30% of the value of the estate–the elective share. What makes this so difficult is determining what should be included in the value of the estate (called the elective estate) and what should [...]
No IRA Spousal Roll-over for Same Sex Couples
In the case of federally recognized marriages (i.e., opposite sex spouses), the surviving spouse is allowed to roll-over the deceased spouse’s 401(k) and IRA balances into an IRA for the surviving spouse. The same is not true for same-sex couples or non-married couples. For them, the best they can have is an inherited IRA.
New Florida Durable Power of Attorney Law
Florida’s durable power of attorney law has been updated, effective October 1, 2011. For most people, the new durable power of attorney law will have no effect on their existing Durable Powers of Attorney, which will continue to be effective after October 1, 2011. However, people with so-called “springing” powers of attorney—powers of attorney that [...]
10 Things About Florida Durable Powers of Attorney
What is It? A Durable Power of Attorney (DPOA) is a legal instrument that grants an agent (sometimes called the “attorney-in-fact”) authority to act in the place of the principal. A DPOA is different than other types of powers of attorney because it is effective even if the principal later becomes incompetent. Who can be [...]
Another Do-It-Yourself Will (Near) Disaster
There’s a lot of things you can do for yourself, especially with help from your good friend Google or Bing. But you should never attempt to prepare your own Last Will. Even if you get the language right, that’s only part of the process. A Last Will is no good unless it is signed with [...]
Why Married Couples Need Wills
Married couples need wills, even if most of their property is owned as tenants by the entireties (TBE) or joint tenants with right of survivorship (JTWROS). This point is clear from the following situation: Husband and Wife are married with four children (one of whom is 19, and the other three are under 18). All [...]
The Fill-in-the-Blank Will Strikes Again!
Not surprisingly, I am not a fan of fill-in-the-blank wills and other estate planning documents that can be purchased from many office supply stores or online. It’s not the terms and provisions of these documents that bother me—they’re often quite adequate for straightforward situations. Rather, canned documents do not do a good job of helping [...]
Responsible Estate Planning
I like seeing estate planning related articles in major news sources. They usually confirm that the practices I preach have real-world application, and they usually explain things plainly. Two recent, short articles–one in The Washington Post and the other in The Wall Street Journal–both fit the bill. In The Washington Post, Rosalind Resnick (Axxess Business Consulting) wrote “The Parental [...]
Roth IRA Conversion Rules of Thumb
As a professional advisor, I hate giving “It depends” advice as much as clients hate hearing it. That’s why I particularly appreciated a meeting I had last week with Marc Angle, from Bernstein Global Wealth Management, on Roth IRA conversions. Marc actually had some rules of thumb about when converting a traditional IRA to a [...]