Future of Estate Planning – Some Musings

At the 2018 University of Miami’s Heckerling Institute, there was a panel that talked about the future of estate planning.  The following will summarize some points raised during the panel’s discussion. Some states (e.g. Florida) are allowing e-notarization of legal documents.  This is not in widespread use yet (and is not accepted in Massachusetts at… Read More »

A Few Updates Regarding Roth IRAs

At the 2018 University of Miami’s Heckerling Institute, Natalie Choate discussed making a contribution to a traditional IRA and then converting those assets to a Roth IRA (this is an approach to consider if you are over the income limit for a Roth contribution during the year). This is a possible strategy to consider if… Read More »

Some Thoughts to Consider for Those Helping Elders

Here are some random but important things to consider for those helping elders. Reminder: Do not sign personally as the one responsible for the cost of another person’s nursing home expenses.  Only sign in your official capacity (e.g. power of attorney agent).  You should not sign in your individual capacity unless it is for you… Read More »

A Brief Review of ‘Money in Politics’

At the 2018 University of Miami’s Heckerling Institute, Trevor Potter, of the Campaign Legal Center in Washington, D.C., discussed how Sec. 501(c)(4) tax exempt organizations are being used to finance political campaigns. Sec. 501(c)(4) applies to “civic leagues or organizations not organized for profit but are operated exclusively for the promotion of social welfare… and… Read More »

Recent Developments in the Estate Planning World

The following are some recent developments from 2017 which are of interest to the estate planning community.   Valuation Discounts Update: In 2017, the estate planning community expected to see big changes regarding the ability to do valuation discounts under Sec. 2704 of the Internal Revenue Code. Briefly, Sec. 2704 was set up by Congress… Read More »