by Christine | Oct 18, 2013 | Business Sale, Estate Law, Family Business, Small Business |
There are three main strategies business owners can (and should) use in order to maximize the amount of money they put in their pockets when they sell their companies. Your business is your livelihood. It may also be your family's source of revenue. So if you are...
by Christine | Oct 17, 2013 | Art, Estate Law, IRS, Taxation, Valuation |
Whenever a U.S. taxpayer dies or gives away valuable art—or any time it changes hands other than through a sale—Uncle Sam has an interest in knowing its true value. The art panel protects that interest, by vetting values submitted by taxpayers or executors; in...
by Christine | Oct 16, 2013 | Digital Assets, Digital Estate Planning, Estate Planning |
… Even people who think they've ticked off all of the usual boxes on their estate-planning to-do lists may have overlooked an increasingly important component of the process: ensuring the proper management and orderly transfer of their digital assets after...
by Christine | Oct 15, 2013 | Charitable Giving, Estate Planning, Legacy |
Cultivating a family legacy is not that different from tending a garden: land with poor prospects, at first glance, has to be coaxed over time –patiently and carefully–until it has a fertile life of its own. Case in point: The Morris family of Pennsylvania, which...
by Christine | Oct 14, 2013 | Estate Planning, Valuation |
“My husband and I own a law firm, and part of the appeal of our law firm is us,” said Kelly Phillips Erb, a lawyer outside Philadelphia who has blogged on the tax matters related to the Jackson estate. “If we’re not around the next day, the value of the firm isn’t...
by Christine | Oct 11, 2013 | Estate Planning, Estate Tax, Estates, Trusts |
Many trusts were set up over the years to help protect wealth from estate taxes. But the federal estate-tax exemption has risen steadily in recent years, to $5.25 million, or $10.5 million for couples, from $1 million in 2003. This year, Congress made the exemption...
by Christine | Oct 10, 2013 | Estate Planning, Roth IRA |
In most situations, you can leave your Roth IRA to anyone you please simply by designating them as beneficiary. While it is perfectly legal to leave retirement accounts to a minor, doing so can create some complications. IRAs aren't just retirement tools, they are...
by Christine | Oct 9, 2013 | Charitable Planning, Estate Planning, LIfe Insurance |
You have a whole or universal life-insurance policy that you or your heirs don't really need. What do you do? Well, you may want to donate it to your favorite charity. There are basically two ways to do it. Ask any widow or widower and they will tell you...
by Christine | Oct 8, 2013 | Elder Care, Elder Law, Medicare, Medicare Advantage |
By one count, nearly one-third of Medicare Advantage plan enrollees say they were denied coverage for treatment by their plans. Such denials of coverage can be enraging or even life-threatening. However, there is an appeal process to resolve these conflicts. If you...
by Christine | Oct 7, 2013 | Estate Law, Qualified Appraisal, Tax Law, Valuation |
What makes an appraisal “qualified,” says the Tax Court, is whether it provides sufficient information to enable the Internal Revenue Service to evaluate an appraiser’s methodology. When you give cash to charity, it is a pretty straightforward offering that holds a...
