Author: Neel Shah

It’s important to recognize that after a loved one passes away, no more estate planning can be done, even if you believe that the current plan is flawed. If you’re a party to administering the estate, you have to get to work pretty quickly to accomplish the tasks likely in front of you. Depending on your location, you may need to follow a series of steps to actually administer the estate:

• Filing the appropriate paperwork regarding probate
• Initiate the probate process, which is ruled by state laws and court supervision
• Get approval for estate expenses, if necessary
• Publish a death or custodianship notice in the newspaper
• Inventory the assets inside the estate, including their value
• Notify any businesses or creditors
• Collect any accounts receivable related to business agreements or personal loans
• Claim proceeds for life insurance or annuities that were not payable by contract to specified beneficiaries
• Putting together, paying, and representing the estate in front of tax authorities
• Transfer property to the distributors

As you can see, there are many different tasks that might be required in estate administration, which is why more and more people are using trusts and other non-probate tools to plan for the future without making heirs worry about the process of probate. To get help putting your estate in order, contact us today at info@lawesq.net.

These days, physicians have a lot to worry about as they grow their assets. Many, after years of residency, are plunged into a higher income bracket, but this can come with risks. Litigation, for example, can expose all those new assets of a physician to serious risk. That’s why it’s so important to take steps early to protect your assets and engage in regular review as your wealth grows.

There are a few basic steps you can take to safeguard yourself, but there are many options when it comes to asset protection planning as well as your estate. As your situation changes, of course, it’s important to reconsider what you

Step 1: Update Your Will

Step 2: Avoid Probate With Trusts and Other Tools

Step 3: Consider Tax Reduction Strategies like gifting or an ILIT

Step 4: Review Beneficiaries

Step 5: Update Regularly

The first three steps are something you can visit while meeting with an estate planning attorney. The last two highlight the importance of an annual review to ensure that your documents are still in line with your wishes. Following these five steps can be really important to protect the new wealth you are growing into. Don’t let your hard-earned assets be exposed to major risks- investigate what you can do to protect it today.  Email us at info@lawesq.net.

Hear Neel Shah, Managing Attorney of the Law Firm of Shah & Associates, P.C. describe the highlights of this weekly Blog Posts. For the full post, visit: https://lawesq.net/blog/

1.What’s the Difference Between Elder Law and Estate Planning?
2.IRS Activates New Regulations for Tangible Property
3.Planning to Pass the Business to the Next Generation? You Need Succession Planning
4.Why People Often Avoid Estate Planning
5.How to Choose an Estate Planning Attorney Who is Right For You

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Putting your estate plan together and getting important questions answered is not something that should be underestimated. Selecting the professional that is right for your needs is important because you’re likely to form a long-term relationship with such an individual.

Whether it’s simply good planning sense or the rash of celebrity estate planning faux pas stories in the news, more people are thinking about their estates. Planning ahead goes far beyond putting together a will for most because it involves strategies designed to maximize the value of assets while minimizing the impact of taxes. 

You should have a level of comfort with your estate planning professional but also ease in communication. This individual should be able to help answer your questions but also conduct a review of your needs and suggest tactics and strategies specifically aligned with you. Even though estate planning is known for being complex, it can be very helpful to work with somebody who is committed to providing you with an understanding of value for each type of estate planning tool put to work for you.

Finally, an estate planning relationship should not be a one-time conversation. It should involve annual reviews, a team that provides you with the most relevant news information related to your planning, and a team that is there to answer questions for you in the long run. When hiring an estate planning attorney, look for somebody you can trust that is interested in building this long-term relationship with you. Let us help you- contact us at info@lawesq.net.

Most people recognize the value of doing it, but it’s either so difficult to work into their frame of mind or it’s something that seems so far off that estate planning tends to get skipped over.

As a bottom line, most people don’t want to think about dying. It’s a sobering topic, and it’s also one that generates a lot of questions you may not be sure you know how to answer. There are four primary reasons that people avoid estate planning:

• They don’t want to think about death. Although most people want to avoid the topic of death, wouldn’t you rather address it while you’re healthy and competent? It’s much easier to plan ahead this way.
• They don’t have time. Many estate planning mistakes or confusing court cases could have been avoided with planning ahead. Most people are busy, but you’d be surprised at how little time you actually need to invest in order to develop an estate plan.
• Some assume they don’t have an estate worth worrying about. You can have an “estate” if you own just about anything, and not putting this on paper can make it difficult for your loved ones to figure out your intentions after you pass away.
• Some people don’t understand it. They may assume that estate planning is all about using complex tools like trusts, but estate planning is designed to meet you where you are at, not make things more difficult than they need to be. Regardless of your needs, it’s an important process.

Skip the excuses and set up a meeting today to settle your estate planning concerns while you are already thinking about. We can help you- request your meeting today at info@lawesq.net.

There’s no doubt that it can be a real challenge for business owners to talk about succession planning. For some, it’s because their drive and entrepreneurial vision contributed so much to the success of the enterprise. For others, it’s because they can’t imagine taking a step back from the business. And for others, it has to do with not being sure what the future holds in terms of the business. All of these are understandable reasons for putting off the succession planning conversation, but they don’t diminish the true value of thinking ahead. 

Succession planning is not just answering the “who” question- it’s about answering the “how”, too. There are several different tools that can be used to help with the process of succession planning, such as a buy-sell agreement and life insurance. If you aim to be passing on the business to another generation, you need to have a conversation with your business succession planning professional to talk about the most effective way to do this. Keeping stakeholders involved and informed can be crucial for success.

If you think that the business is going to end with you, or that you might want to sell it, these are equally important concerns that may lead you into a series of estate planning questions specifically for you. The reality is that even if you’re not sure of the direction you’re going to go, setting up a meeting can help you work through these difficult issues and determine an effective route for moving forward. Send us a message to set up your meeting today at info@lawesq.net.

It’s tax time again, and trustees and executors involved in portfolios with real estate as well as businesses holding property should be aware of the new regulations linked to tangible property. Although these new regulations are complicated, they can be an important tool for reducing 2014 tax liability with the right planning.

These tangible property regulations, frequently referred to as “repair” regulations, were finalized in September 2013 and were made active for all tax years after January 1, 2014. One of the reasons for the revised regulations is that in the past, taxpayers had to content with IRS codes and Tax Court decisions that often seemed opposed to one another. The new guidelines aim to line up the IRS guidelines with recent decisions from the courtroom to provide clarity for taxpayers. 

The basics of the changes have to do with when real estate owners or businesses spending money to improve, repair, or acquire tangible property. These expenses can be deducted as ordinary and necessary or capitalized and depreciated over time. Especially when it comes to rental real estate, the decision made on how to deduct the expense can have important implications. The most important change in the new regulations has to do with the fact that tangible property regulations require taxpayers to apply them as if they had been in effect from inception, requiring review of general ledgers and depreciation schedules. After analysis, this means either a one-time reduction of taxable income for 2014 or a taxable income increase spread out over four years.

To learn more about the specifics of planning for your taxes this year and beyond, contact our offices for a consultation or a review. Send us a message at info@lawesq.net if you have questions.

New Jersey residents are quick to point out their cheap gas prices, but the state is also known as being one of the “worst states to die” because of its double-whammy on death: the estate tax and the inheritance tax. Since the state is so expensive in taxing both the estate and the heir, estate planners often work with clients to create specific strategies to protect as much wealth as possible. It also leads some older individuals to consider skipping town altogether in search of warmer climes and lower taxes.  

New Jersey lawmakers are currently contemplating whether a gas tax could help pay for some rail and road projects that the state desperately needs, leading some to question whether it’s time to trade in the higher death taxes in exchange for a gas tax either on wholesale refinery purchases or at the pump.

Chris Christie hasn’t revealed his final plans yet, but he has a major challenge in trying to figure out how to fund the otherwise nearly drained Transportation Trust Fund.

The typical first thought regarding death taxes is that they only influence the wealthy, but that’s simply not true- New Jersey has quite low thresholds that deliver the problem directly to the middle class.  Since the estate tax is levied on bank accounts, retirement accounts, life insurance, real estate, and investments. The state gets the estate taxes on these items if the estate is valued at more than $675,000 and the assets are not left to a spouse.

To learn more about planning strategies for maximizing your estate in New Jersey, contact our office at info@lawesq.net.

 

Facebook has become a hotspot for all kinds of users, but one of the challenges presented to the company was how to handle what happens to an account after someone passed away. Without password access, there was no way for loved ones to login and either eliminate the account or figure out another way to deal with it.

Now, users can choose who will manage their account after they pass away. Users can now choose a person who will serve as their legacy contact, giving that person privileges to post on their account after they pass away, update the profile picture and cover photo, and respond to friend requests. Users may also select to have their account deleted after they pass away. 

Interested in taking the next step? Look for the options under “security settings”. Users in the U.S. are eligible to do this, but the other person has to be a Facebook user. This highlights the importance of thinking about not just your social media accounts but all of your other “digital assets”. If you have other online accounts, will anyone have access to them after you pass away? Have you stored the passwords somewhere safe? There are many reasons you may wish to have someone manage your Facebook account after you pass away, but you should also think more broadly about what other online accounts could become “locked” or otherwise inaccessible should your loved ones want to get in. To talk through the basics of estate planning in a digital age, contact our offices at info@lawesq.net.

 

If you checked out yesterday’s post and think that you may have a copyright or patent, or that a loved one does, it’s important to protect such an asset with estate planning. There are two complex facets involved in estate planning for intellectual property, and both can be explored with the questions:

• What is the value?
• How should it be transferred to someone else?

Valuing intellectual property is not easy, so you should connect with a professional who has specific experience doing this process. Once you’ve arrived at a value, you may be considering transferring the asset to one of several beneficiaries, such as:

• Family members
• Charities
• Colleagues
• Other individuals

Whether you decide to give the value over lifetime gifts or bequests after your death, you need to be informed about the tax consequences, your own income needs, and what type of person is in the best position to reap the benefits of your IP and monitor your rights closely. If you need access to the intellectual property to support you, for example, you will want to hold onto it until you are ready to retire or until you no longer have a need for that income.

If you have intellectual property, it’s just as important to protect it during your life as it is to plan for who will receive the benefits from it in the future. Start planning early. Set up an appointment today at info@lawesq.net.

Do you own a copyright, patent, or some other form of intellectual property? These assets might not be tangible, but they certainly can be valuable. In this first post, we’ll discuss the basics behind patents and copyrights. There are four primary categories of intellectual property that may be involved in your estate plan:

• Trademarks
• Trade secrets
• Copyrights
• Patents

Trademarks and trade secrets are common terms for business owners and entrepreneurs. However, copyrights and patents are also useful and are governed by federal laws geared to promote creative and scientific endeavors by awarding exclusive rights to someone during a particular time period.

The two most common kinds of patents are design and utility patents. A design patent can be awarded for a new, ornamental, and original design for an article of manufacture. Utility patents are given to those who “discover” or “invent” a useful and new process, manufacture, composition of matter, or machine.

Patents protection inventions that are useful, nonobvious, and novel. Current laws protect inventions for 20 years from the patent application filing date for utility patents and 15 years for design patents. Copyrights, however, protect an original expression of ideas, typically found in paintings, sculptures, films, sound recordings, or written work. Copyright protection is more immediate than patents, since the protection begins after the work is in a fixed medium.

Do you already own a copyright or patent or believe that a loved one does? Tune in tomorrow for specific tips on estate planning for these valuable commodities. Reach out to us at info@lawesq.net. 

Around the world, there are more than 15 million people caring for someone who suffers from Alzheimer’s. While many of these individuals are aware of the physical and emotional toll this can take on family members and other caregivers, the financial repercussions are also big. 

According to a survey by AgingCare.com, 25 percent of people providing care to someone with Alzheimer’s spend more than $4,000 monthly on that care. Among these caregivers, 40 percent give more than 30 hours each week in unpaid care services for their lived one. Among those with Alzheimer’s living at home, more than half were being cared for by a caregiver, a family member, or a combination of both. Nearly two-thirds of caregivers say that the afflicted loved one had no financial plans for their care before diagnosis.

Given the high costs of healthcare and long-term care, and the devastating realities of living with Alzheimer’s, it’s important to be aware of any and all planning opportunities. Whether you’re in the midst of a crisis or whether you want to plan ahead for a parent’s future or even your own, you need to be informed about your options. An elder law specialist can help walk you through the basis, whether your loved one needs help right away or whether you are concerned about the long-term future. Don’t hesitate to do your research and learn more today so that you can protect your future. Reach out to us at info@lawsq.net to start your planning today.

A Chevrolet truck presented to Tom Brady for recognition as the New England Patriot’s MVP during the Super Bowl will instead pass to his teammate, Malcolm Butler. If Brady had received the truck and decided to pass it on to Butler as a gift, the vehicle valued at $35,000 may have created a taxable income event for Brady. If Brady has already exceeded his lifetime gift giving under the tax code, he, too, would have been in the midst of a taxable event.

Butler will be responsible for paying the income taxes linked to receiving the vehicle instead. The idea was spurred when Brady told a Boston radio station shortly after the Super Bowl that he’d like to give the vehicle to Butler, a rookie player who helped the Patriots earn their big win with his interception of Russell Wilson’s goal-line pass.

It’s important to understand that even with the best of intentions in gift-giving, if you’re not familiar with gift taxes and other tax consequences, you may face an unpleasant surprise. Do your planning in advance by talking about big gift transactions with an experienced attorney so that you are well-informed about your responsibilities and rights. Contact us today at info@lawesq.net.

The sole heir to Whitney Houston’s estate, Bobbi Kristina Brown, has been in a medically-induced coma since the end of January. The $20 million worth of assets inside the estate is now in question, especially since recent reports indicate her family intends to remove Bobbi from life support. The estate includes all of the royalties linked to Whitney’s image, likeness, and music.

If Bobbi does pass away, the next in line is Cissy Houston and her two sons. Bobbi already inherited $2 million when she turned 20, with another 15 percent to be passed to her at age 25 and the remaining amount to be given to her at age 30.

A lesson learned from this estate is that a revocable living trust can be a valuable tool for shielding private business from public eyes. The fact that so much of this is being reported by the media gives the involved individuals practically no confidentiality or privacy. Using a revocable living trust may have been a better option if they wished to keep Houston’s estate details in the family.

Another option would have been to use dynasty trust to hold the assets inside them forever rather than using the incremental ages release that Houston’s estate employed. If you’re concerned about passing on major assets to children with some control over the process and protecting your privacy, it’s important to engage with an estate planning professional as soon as possible.