While parents make the vast majority of decisions for their children, it comes as a surprise to many that they cannot automatically make decisions regarding a trust or estate in their child’s name. Estate law protects the interests of the beneficiary above all others, even from the parents of a…
Estate planning for ranchers and farmers is incredibly important because of the nature of the assets in those estates. Most farmers and ranchers do not have many liquid assets, such as bank accounts and other forms of cash. Instead, most of their estate is invested in their ranch or farm…
The White House recently released its budget proposal for 2016, and one of the major aspects of the plan is to restrict the use and effectiveness of a common estate planning tool: grantor retained annuity trusts (GRATs). The administration has proposed limitations on the use of this estate planning technique…
One of the main challenges for families with wealth is planning for more than a single generation. With the uncertainty of the world, advances of technology, economic upheaval, and more many people are concerned about how to plan for decades or even a century down the line. However, there are…
The House of Representatives recently passed a bill that would eliminate the federal estate tax. The bill is expected to pass in the Senate but be vetoed by the President, thus most likely preventing it from becoming law. However, the bill does bring up an interesting aspect of the federal…
Small, family-owned businesses make up the crux of our nation’s economy. In 2011, there were 28.2 million small businesses in the United States and they make up 99.7% of U.S. employer firms. Many small business owners hope to create a legacy where their family will take over operations once they…
Many families purchase vacation homes that they and other generations in their family can all enjoy together. However, vacation homes can also lead to some serious family feuds when it comes to estate planning. One of the biggest mistakes in estate planning when a vacation home is involved is to…
A lawsuit recently filed in the U.S. District Court in the Southern District of Texas has challenged the Internal Revenue Service’s (IRS) assessment that a family owes the government millions in taxes for artwork that they claim is actually owned by a company. The estate of Joe Allbritton and his…
The responsibilities of being named as the executor of an estate can be overwhelming, especially when you are still grieving over the loss of a loved one. Becoming the executor of an estate comes with a multitude of administrative tasks, and getting something wrong could make you liable for damages.…
The common thought when estate planning is to split the inheritance equally among your children. The main goal of the distribution is to be fair to each child, but that is not always the case. Sometimes there are special considerations that need to be made for one or more children…