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What Is a Grantor Retained Annuity Trust?

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A grantor retained annuity trust or GRAT can be a useful estate planning tool if you are exposed to the federal estate tax. Before we explain the value of this type of trust, we should provide some background information about the tax. Estate Tax Parameters Every estate is not subject to the estate tax, because there is a credit or exclusion. This is the amount that you can transfer free of the estate tax. For the rest of the 2014 calendar year, the estate tax exclusion is $5.34 million. Each … [Read more...] about What Is a Grantor Retained Annuity Trust?

The Happiest Tax Advice I’ve Ever Given

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The Happiest Tax Advice Ive Ever Given I suspect that I know what youre thinking. Youre probably wondering how can the words happiest and tax show up in the same sentence, much less right next to each other. Im kind of surprised myself, but, as I like to say, life is long and you never know whats going to happen. When I tell folks who come to my seminars that estate planning is really life planning, Im aware that they dont always catch on at first, but believe me, its true. And heres an … [Read more...] about The Happiest Tax Advice I’ve Ever Given

Everyone Has Feelings…The funny thing about Inheritance

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Inheritance is a funny thing. People who inherit seem to equate their share with how much they were loved by the deceased. Most times, how much an heir receives and how much they were loved has absolutely nothing to do with each other. Here are a couple of examples of how a well-intentioned parent can do major violence to the feelings of the child who gets the short end of the stick. Imagine a family with two children. Both kids are raised, loved and educated equally. One of the kids, however, … [Read more...] about Everyone Has Feelings…The funny thing about Inheritance

Do-It-Yourself Estate Planning

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My wife broke her right wrist a little while back. This event posed a particular problem for her, since she is also right handed. After the Emergency Room visit, we went to an orthopedic surgeon. As a result, she needed surgery, when the doctor inserted a plate and some screws. While listing the options of whether my wife should undergo surgery as opposed to just wearing a cast for a long time, the doctor told us something that I believe to be relevant to estate planning: If we do nothing, he … [Read more...] about Do-It-Yourself Estate Planning

Being Good “Parents” to Our Parents

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One of the toughest things in my elder law practice is to get the sons and daughters of an incapacitated parent ready to face this truth: The kids are now the "parents" to their parents. Just what does this mean? Well, for openers, it means that the kids now are the ones responsible for the health and well-being of their parents. It means that the kids will make decisions for their parents that involve things like Where will mom or dad live? How (or what) will they eat? How much (if any) … [Read more...] about Being Good “Parents” to Our Parents

Don’t Put Your Kid’s Name on an Asset and Call It Estate Planning

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My aunt from upstate was a real know it all. She had opinions on everything (like most of us do), but she always insisted that her opinions were correct (like most of us dont). She had one son (lets call him Jackie). After her husband died, my aunt came up with the brilliant idea that she would do her estate planning by putting all her earthly goods in Jackies name. Her house? She deeded it to Jackie with the understanding that Jackie would let her live there for the rest of her life. Her bank … [Read more...] about Don’t Put Your Kid’s Name on an Asset and Call It Estate Planning

Fear of Death

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Good. Youre still reading. Im figuring that most people, once they saw the title to this blog, simply shut it down and walked away because, as Im sure you know: Most people are terrified about the thought of dying, and all of us are afraid of it to one extent or another. Funny thing, too, because its the one thing thats inevitable and universal. No one gets out of this life alive. And everyone knows it. As we move through the years of our own lives, we witness grandparents, parents, aunts, … [Read more...] about Fear of Death

So, How About This Social Media?

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Being a proud product of the rural hills of Susquehanna County, Pennsylvania, but having lived and practiced law here in the Philadelphia area for almost 40 years now, Ive always fancied myself as an old fashioned, down home lawyer, meaning a guy who would shake your hand, look you in the eye, make you feel comfortable--like family--while all the time using my reasonably highly educated brain to figure out how I could help you with your estate planning. When my wife and I opened Flood & … [Read more...] about So, How About This Social Media?

It’s Almost Ice Cream Social Time!

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Now with the hot summer days hard upon us, Holly, who is my good right arm, reminds me that its time in our annual planning cycle to start thinking about our Annual Ice Cream Social. Just like the First Robin of Spring, The Fourth of July, Thanksgiving, and Christmas, our firms Ice Cream Social has become an essential part of the rhythm of our year. This year will be our Eighth Annual. Before long, the invitations will go out to all of our clients and their friends. Beginning as a modest event, … [Read more...] about It’s Almost Ice Cream Social Time!