McDermott’s “Sensible Estate Tax Act of 2011″
McDermott Bill: “Making the Estate Tax Fair and Equitable Again” For Immediate Release: November 17, 2011 WASHINGTON, DC – Today, Congressman Jim McDermott (D-WA), a senior member of the House Ways and Means Committee, introduced the “Sensible Estate Tax Act of 2011” to restore fairness to the estate tax. It is the first estate tax...
Assets Subject to California Probate
Assets Subject to California Probate Following a death, you may find yourself looking for guidance about how to deal with all of the “stuff,” all of the estate assets. Sometimes it is easy to deal with the small things. Your daughter gets dad’s guitar and your son gets dad’s carved mahogany bar, done and done. But who...
What is California Probate?
Probate in California – What’s the Purpose? Probate. You’ve heard the word, but what is it? Here is a brief overview to let you know what triggers the probate process and what is involved to complete the journey. In general, probate is the court supervised collection of assets, payment of debts and expenses with the...
National Estate Planning Awareness Week!
October 17-23, 2011 is National Estate Planning Awareness Week! Did you know that over 140,000,000 people in the U.S. do not have up-to-date plans to protect themselves or their families in the event of sickness, accidents, or untimely death? Do you need some planning to care for your family? Call October 17-23 and ask about our...
Can You Benefit From a Trust Protector?
What is a Trust Protector? A trust protector is a person who has the authority to direct the actions of the trustee or trustees of an irrevocable trust. A trustee generally has broad sweeping authority to invest funds and distribute income and principal. In contrast, trust protector has limited authority to give instructions to the...
What is a GRAT?
What is a Grantor Retained Annuity Trust? Grantor retained annuity trusts or GRATS can, given the right circumstances, be an excellent way to pass wealth to future generations. The rules for GRATS are uncomplicated and are found at section 2702 of the Internal Revenue Code. The person creating the GRAT (donor) transfers money to an...
California Probate – How Much Does It Cost?
Basic Court Fees Let’s get the boring things out of the way first. For the most straight forward probate, there largest filing fees are incurred at the beginning and end of the process. The fee charged to file a probate petition is $410. There will be a $395 filing fee to file the petition for...
Asset Protection Trusts
In the past, self-created trusts in the United States did not offer protection from creditors if the person who created the trust was allowed to receive funds from the trust. In order to get this asset protection feature, trusts had to be created in foreign countries such as the Cayman Islands, the Channel Islands, Belize...
Commercial Real Estate Law & LLCs
The world of commercial real estate transactions financing is fraught with legal pitfalls, a fact that has been duly reported time and time again since the end of the “boom” in late 2007. Lower valuations, impinged cash flow, government action, and general economic distress have, and will continue, to affect commercial real estate in San...
