Blog entries

2010 Estate Tax - Why Some Call 2010 the Year to Die

Michael P. Pancheri — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 00:28:24 +0100

Some people say that 2010 is a good year to die. That's because there are no estate taxes for this year. But, don't get too excited - the estate tax comes back with a vengeance in 2011. Attorney, Hyman Darling, Chairman of the Estate Planning, Elder Law Department of Bacon Wilson, P.C., Springfield, Massachusetts, explains it all in this video:

[video:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rk2AEk4vy_w 350x350]

Katharine Hepburn's Last Will and Testament now live!

Michael P. Pancheri — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 22:29:23 +0100

Who would have thought that we'd develop a following for wills of the rich and famous.

We display these wills whenever we can because (1) people are just plain curious about them and (2) they provide good examples of different types of provisions that are often usedRead More...

Welcome Back, Chip Dahlke!

Administrator — Sat, 27 Feb 2010 17:14:34 +0100

We are happy to announce that Glen "Chip" Dahlke has returned to the Living Trust Network as a Senior Contributor.

As many of you know, Chip was actively involved in the Living Trust Network from its inception in 2006, contributing many insightful tips and commentaries on personal financesRead More...

Join the Fun - Become a VIP Member

Administrator — Sun, 21 Feb 2010 20:01:44 +0100

While this spot is normally reserved for good, substantive information on estate planning topics, we thought we'd use it today to promote our "Ask the Experts" forum.

Quite frankly, our "Ask the Experts" forum is dreadful. It should be a place where all of you can ask questions, make commeRead More...

12 Tips for Choosing A Guardian For Your Children

Administrator — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 02:12:40 +0100

Recently, we discovered an article by the Jensen Law Office in Seattle Washington, entitled "12 Tips For Choosing A Guardian For Your Children."

We believe this is an excellent article and one that every parent with minor children will want to read - simply because it does give you some real food for thought when it comes to naming guardians for your minor children.

We like this article so much we've written to the law firm for permission to make it a permanent part of ourRead More...

Estate Tax Bill in the Works

Michael P. Pancheri — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 04:29:41 +0100

As you know, the federal estate tax was repealed as of December 31st of last year and Congress has yet to do anything about it.

Now, however, there is movement afoot among Senate Republicans and Democrats to put an estate tax deal together in an effort to pass a bipartisan jobs bill.

Here's the current thinking among Senate leaders. Democrats want to pass a jobs bill but need at least one Republican vote. Republicans don't want the estate tax to revert to pre-2Read More...

IRS releases statistics on estate tax returns filed between 2001 and 2007

Michael P. Pancheri — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 03:43:09 +0100

The IRS has released its Statistics of Income (SOI) Bulletin for the fall of 2009. While this Bulletin may not have great appeal to the average consumer, there are a couple of interesting facts regarding the impact of recent estate tax law changes.

First, the Bulletin shows that the total number of estate tax returns filed between 2001 and 2007 fell significantly - from 108,071 in 2001 to just 38,031 in 2007. This drop in the number of estate tax returns filed is attributedRead More...

Don't forget your digital assets when planning your estate

Michael P. Pancheri — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 05:00:00 +0100

Today, I read an article from the New York Times that was written by Tim Grant. The article is entitled, "Upon death, what happens to your digital assets?"

This is a relatively new issue in estate planning, but one that will surely grow in importance as more people turn to the internet for business and pleasure. As the article points out, many of the digital assets that people are accumulating on the internet do not have much monetary value - they consist of emaRead More...

Gifts from revocable living trusts qualify for annual gift-tax exclusion

Michael P. Pancheri — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 17:45:48 +0100

There was a time when the IRS insisted that the annual gift-tax exclusion (currently $13,000) would not apply to gifts made directly from a revocable living trust. The theory was that the annual gift-tax exclusion was available only to individuals, and a trust was not an individual.

As a result, many professionals advised their clients to take the property back from their revocable living trust before gifting it to the intended beneficiary, thereby insuring that the annual gift-tRead More...

Judge throws out Joe Jackson's challenge to Michael's will

Michael P. Pancheri — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 04:12:26 +0100

Yesterday, I reported that Joe Jackson had filed an objection to Michael's will, claiming that he never signed it. Joe Jackson also objected to the appointment of attorney John Branca and music executive John McClain as executors of Michael's estate, claiming they committed a fraud on the court when they withheld the fact that Michael was in New York at the time his will was supposedly signed in California.

Today, it was reported that a judge threw out Joe Jackson's challenge to Read More...