Retirement saving. Those two works often strike immediate fear and worry in the heart of New Yorkers. It is hard enough for many families to meet their weekly needs, from mortgage payments to children’s tuition payments and everything in between. In the end, there is often little left over to…
Last week the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) released information on what has been dubbed a “hugely important” questions for same sex couples. Essentially, the new rules mean that same sex couples who are legally married in one state will still be treated as married for tax purposes by the federal…
There is no such thing as universal financial advice. When reading any news story, blog post, or magazine article, one must remember that any advice or discussion about financial topics are general–they may not be best choice in your particular case. Many decisions about investments, use of trusts, and similar…
Do you have enough money to retire? It is a questions that tens of thousands of New Yorkers ask themselves every day. When talking with attorneys and financial advisers, many factors are weighed to determine whether enough resources are available for one to have the type and length of retirement…
Death and taxes; the two constants in life. There has been significant discussion in the past few years over the one tax that is itself most closely tied to death: the estate tax. At the federal level, the President and Congress have debated the exact rate of the the tax…
Much discussion around the Windsor case that struck down DOMA dealt with the estate tax. As a result of the decision, married same sex will indeed be privy to the same federal estate tax exemptions as their heterosexual counterparts. But the effects will go well beyond taxes at death. In…
Many New York families have vacation homes. While the reference often conjures up images of the super-wealthy wintering in palacial estates, the truth is that owning a second piece of real estate in a favorite location is not only for the elite. Middle class families who prudently save often decide…
A JDSupra post from last month offers a helpful reminder of the changing legal landscape for New York same sex couples who are married. As virtually everyone knows, in late June the U.S. Supreme Court declared the main portion of the federal law known as the “Defense of Marriage Act”…
The State recently reported on another “will contest” involving a well-known South Carolina family. The story is an example of a very common estate planning problem, disagreement between adult children and a second (or third) spouse. The basics of the family situation are well known. The patriarch, former University of…
How should you decide who you should name as beneficiaries in your estate planning documents? For many, the answer is not too complicated: leave it all to the children. However, just because that model is the most common form of passing on assets does not mean that there are not…