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Estate Planning

North Carolina Estate Planning Blog

Consumer-oriented blog on estate planning, probate, tax law, with a focus on North Carolina.
By Gregory Herman-Giddens

Post Frequency: 3.5/day

Last Entry: April 01, 2011 at 09:52:45

Something Smells Phishy - Fake IRS Refund Emails

Posted on October 29, 2008
I just received an email with the following text (albiet in my spam filter). After the last annual calculations of your fiscal activity we have determined that you are eligible to receive a tax refund under section 501(c) (3) of the Internal Revenue Code...

Update Your Beneficiary Designations

Posted on October 28, 2008
Failure to update one's beneficiary designations for life insurance, annuities and retirement accounts is all too common. One of the more common problems stems from not changing beneficiary designations after a divorce. The law does not automatically cancel beneficiary designations in favor of a former spouse...

ILIT Trustees - Examine Your Policies

Posted on October 25, 2008
Life insurance trusts (ILITs) are a popular estate planning technique used to shelter life insurance proceeds from estate taxes, creditors and mismanagement by beneficiaries. While the insured is alive, generally the only asset of an ILIT is the life insurance policy...

Warren Buffet - Now's the Time to Buy American Stocks

Posted on October 20, 2008
Words of wisdom from a sage investor on the NY Times Website. It is also important not to use the poor economy as an excuse to neglect protecting what you have by doing sound estate planning. If you have less, aren't protections against creditors, mismanagement and taxes even more important than when you're flush?

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Free Webcast on Aging October 30, 2008

Posted on October 18, 2008
The National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys (NAELA) will be offering its first ever public Webcast on October 30, 2008. Aging in America: How to Plan for it is a one-hour roundtable discussion program video recorded and broadcast "live" via the Internet...

IRS Announces Pension Plan Limits for 2009

Posted on October 17, 2008
IR-2008-118, Oct. 16, 2008 WASHINGTON — The Internal Revenue Service today announced cost?of?living adjustments applicable to dollar limitations for pension plans and other items for tax year 2009. Section 415 of the Internal Revenue Code provides for dollar limitations on benefits and contributions under qualified retirement plans...

Gift Tax Annual Exclusion to Increase in 2009

Posted on October 16, 2008
.hmmessage P { margin:0px; padding:0px } body.hmmessage { FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY:Tahoma }The IRS has announced many annual inflation adjustments for 2009, including an increase in the annual gift exclusion. The annual gift tax exclusion for present interest gifts will be $13,000...

Using a Professional Care Manager

Posted on October 15, 2008
Services from care managers should be something that every family takes advantage of, but in reality very few families use them. Care managers could go a long ways towards helping the family find better and more efficient ways of providing care for a loved one...

Should You Roll Your 401(k) Over into an IRA?

Posted on October 14, 2008
Once you cease working for an employer, you have the option of rolling over to an Individual Retirement Account (IRA) any retirement plan (such as a 401(k)) established for you while employed. In most cases, it is beneficial to do such a rollover because of the advantages offered by an IRA...

FDIC Bank Account Insurance Coverage Calculator

Posted on October 10, 2008
The recent Bailout law increased the FDIC insurance coverage for bank accounts to $250,000 per person, per bank. However, different types of accounts, such as joint, POD, etc. affect how the coverage is calculated. The FDIC provides this handy calculator to estimate the coverage available to you for your accounts at each bank.

More on Special Needs Trusts

Posted on October 09, 2008
I recently posted a link to an article on Special Needs Trusts - here's another one from the Wall Street Journal, which quotes several well known lawyers, including Barry Nelson in Miami, who has a special needs child himself.

What Property is Exempt from Creditors' Claims in NC?

Posted on October 09, 2008
If you were ever to be sued, what property would be protected in the event of a judgment against you? Homestead - only $18,500 of the value of your home. If you are over 65 and your deceased spouse (or significant other, etc.) was an owner of the home also, the amount protected is $37,500...

Estate and Income Tax Reduction Strategies in a Bear Market

Posted on October 08, 2008
1) If you are not selling options or using margin trading, you should revoke your margin agreements. This reduces your risk by ensuring that your securities are not lent. 2) Roth IRA conversions should be aggressively reviewed. 3) Loss Harvesting, while remaining in the market should be reviewed...

Bailout Includes IRA Charitable Rollover

Posted on October 04, 2008
The Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 (H.R. 1424) passed the House yesterday, and was quickly signed by President Bush. The law includes an extension of the IRA Charitable Rollover, which allows individuals age 70 and older to transfer up to $100,000 per year to public charities, tax-free...

Capital Gain Limited for Former Vacation Homes

Posted on October 03, 2008
Effective January 1, 2009, the $250,000 capital gain exclusion ($500,000 for married couples) for sales of former vacation homes that become one's personal residence will be limited. This posting by Charles Rubin provides a good explanation to the changes to IRC Section 121.

Top 10 Excuses for Failure to Plan One's Estate

Posted on October 01, 2008
Most folks never get around to doing any estate planning, even so much as a simple will. Why? I'll do it later, when I'm "older." It costs too much. I don't like lawyers. I don't have time. It's too complicated. I don't have enough assets to worry about...

Older Estate Plans Should Be Reviewed

Posted on September 30, 2008
While folks who put an estate plan into place years, or even decades, ago are to be commended for planning ahead, they should not assume that the job is completed. Estate plans should be reviewed and updated on a regular basis - I suggest every two years or so...

House and Senate Bills have same IRA Charitable Rollover Provision

Posted on September 29, 2008
Both the Senate's Tax Extenders and Alternative Minimum Tax Relief Act of 2008 (H.R. 6049), which was passed on September 23, 2008, and the House's Renewable Energy and Job Creation Tax Act of 2008 (H.R. 7060), which is expected to pass this week, contain identical IRA Charitable Rollover provisions...

FDIC Releases New Simplified Rules for Coverage for Living Trusts

Posted on September 26, 2008
This is the Press Release issued by the FDIC (emphasis added): The FDIC's Board of Directors today adopted changes to simplify the rules for determining the coverage available on revocable trust accounts – commonly called payable-on-death accounts or living trust accounts...

Estate Planning Checklist

Posted on September 26, 2008
Do you have an Estate Plan in place? If so, are you confident that it fully covers matters relating to health care, family, taxes, and asset protection? It is important to understand the impact of a comprehensive estate plan and how it will protect you and your family should an untimely death or disability occur, or in the event of a catastrophic lawsuit against you...

How to Choose an Executor

Posted on September 19, 2008
This article is from one of our recent newsletters. Although it refers only to executors, most of the considerations also apply to trustees. North Carolina no longer requires that an executor be a resident of the state. For those interested in receiving TrustCounsel's newsletter, visit our website to sign up...

Plan Ahead for Special Needs Children

Posted on September 17, 2008
A recent article in the Baltimore Sun discusses the special planning that should be done by parents of children with disabilities. I think the article is good, although it it states that one should contact a lawyer OR financial planner who is an expert in the area...

2008 North Carolina Tax Law Changes

Posted on September 16, 2008
The North Carolina Department of Revenue has published a list of recent changes to NC tax laws. I previously reported on relatively minor change to the estate tax and the repeal of the gift tax. Another change that might be of interest to readers in the reduction in the top income tax rate from 8...

Real Property Transfer on Death Act

Posted on September 15, 2008
By Chris Burti, Vice President, Senior Legal Counsel, Statewide Title, Inc. Elder Law is becoming a burgeoning practice area as the Baby Boomer Generation is rapidly beginning to gray out. This group has arguably accumulated more wealth as a group than any prior generation and has paid more taxes to support entitlement programs than any have previously...

Planning to Self-Insure the Risk of Long-Term Care Expenses?

Posted on September 13, 2008
Planning for long-term care expenses should be a part of everyone's estate plan by the time they reach 50. Here's a piece by Alex Townsend, CLTC of Raleigh on why it may not be a good idea to try self-insure: Things To Consider: “How much does someone have to be worth to not need long-term care insurance?” What’s the magic number? How rich is too rich to not need LTC insurance protection? Even though I think that is the wrong question to ask (see next question), my answer is this: If you can write a check each month, indefinitely, for the kind of long-term care that you and your spouse will desire should you have the need, and it doesn’t bother you to write this check, then you may want to pass on LTC insurance...

Durham, NC Tops for Retirement

Posted on September 12, 2008
Black Enterprise magazine has named Durham as the best place to retire. Factors considered were quality on life, health care, taxes, leisure, arts and culture, and climate. Asheville ranked 11th. Good news for me - my office is less than a mile from the Durham City limits.

Medicaid Patients May be Vulnerable to Eviction by Facilities

Posted on September 12, 2008
Nursing homes are being accused by some patient advocates and state long-term care ombudsmen of increasingly evicting patients who are too inconvenient or too costly to care for. And the most vulnerable appear to be those patients with dementia or highly vocal families who are on Medicaid, according to a recent Wall Street Journal report...

Rep. Rangel Should Resign from Ways and Means Committee

Posted on September 11, 2008
Rep. Charles Rangel, chair of the Ways and Means Committee in the U.S. House of Representatives, owes the IRS $5,000 in back taxes for failing to report years worth income from a rental property. Ironically, his position means that he is one of Washington's most powerful influences on changes to the tax code...

5 Legal Tips for Peace of Mind

Posted on September 10, 2008
I sometimes say that I specialize in Peace of Mind. So, when I saw this post in the zenhabits blog I thought it would be a good addition to my blog. This piece was written by Andrew Flusche, a fellow lawyer and blogger. Legal issues don’t have to be stressful...

Often Overlooked in Estates - Cost Segregation Tax Savings

Posted on September 06, 2008
This is a complicated but potentially very worthwhile strategies to pursue in estate in which the decedent owned valuable depreciable real estate (e.g. office buildings, shopping centers, or multiple rental homes). Thanks to Bob Keebler, CPA for the following memo: A unique opportunity many lawyers, CPAs and trustees miss during the estate administration process is to recommend cost segregation studies...

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