A carefully crafted estate plan may have avoided the multi-million dollar battle over Michael Jackson’s estate currently taking place in the U.S. Tax Court. By disposing of his assets primarily by Will, his estate has been subjected to a myriad of red tape as well as the scrutiny of the Internal Revenue Service. Maybe, as his attorneys have argued, his…
The most frequent fights upon the passing of a parent are not about the money, but about the objects that have sentimental value; your mother’s wedding ring, the family bible that has been passed down for generations, or your grandmother’s quilt. These are objects that may have very little financial value, but are filled with meaning and memories, and are…
In the spirit of educating, I’m very excited to share my LIVE radio interview on KSFO, and their sister station KGO, from the Greg O’Donnell Financial Hour broadcast on February 25, 2017. My twenty minutes of fame explained the importance of having an estate plan, what to think about when choosing your executor or trustee, why it’s very important to…
https://www.dropbox.com/s/l8u1l8j1htcf3cd/TGODFH%20w-Kirsten%20Howe%202017.02.25.mp3?dl=0
“So long as men can breathe, or eyes can see, So long lives this, and this gives life to thee.” (Sonnet XVIII by William Shakespeare, b. Apr. 23, 1564, d. Apr. 23, 1616) People do some strange things with their last wills and testaments, and Shakespeare was no exception. One item in William Shakespeare’s will, for example, is often cited…
April 16th is National Healthcare Decisions Day, a day dedicated to “ensuring that all adults with decision-making capacity in the United States have the information and opportunity to communicate and document their healthcare decisions.” Our firm is in complete support of such a goal. In fact, we include a Health Care Directive as an important component of each estate plan…
The second law of thermodynamics states that: “the entropy of an isolated system which is not in equilibrium will tend to increase over time, approaching a maximum value at equilibrium.” What this means for our purposes is that things are always changing (unless you’ve reached absolute equilibrium, in which case you have my hearty congratulations). When your life changes,…
Most of us would like to think we’re leaving behind more than just a financial estate when we pass away. We’d like to think we’ve impressed our values upon our children and grandchildren as well, giving them a foundation of knowledge and belief to serve them when we’re not there. The good news is that creating a thoughtful and comprehensive…