The IRS recently announced safe harbor rates for April 2012. Safe harbor rates are the minimum interest rates that can be used to avoid gift tax treatment that is associated with below market rate loans. The minimum interest rates for April are still very attractive. 0.25% per year for loans…
Indians’s Gov. Mitch Daniels signed to repeal the inheritance tax for deaths after Dec. 31, 2021. The relief is retroactive to January 1 and increases amounts exempt from the tax for 2012 deaths. Currently 22 states and the District of Columbia impose an estate / inheritance tax in 2012. See…
Be careful of agreements that you sign with banks. This family is being held hostage by a bank that made the beneficiaries sign an agreement that required all 94 of them to agree prior to moving their money to another bank. The Tompkins family had been customers of Riggs Bank…
If you own firearms and have done estate planning, you might want to review your planning with a Gun Trust Lawyer®. About 5 years ago, I recognized the problems that are inherent with traditional estate planning (wills, revocable trusts, or the default planning offered by each state) as they relate…
Often in an attempt to avoid a relatively small probate fee, individuals can create huge penalty periods and taxable issues for themselves. Take for instance, a woman in New York who, two years before applying for Medicaid, transferred money from her account to an account with a co-owner. Transferring individually…
You asked and a Jacksonville Estate Planning Lawyer will advise you that according to Florida Law, an “Advance directive” means a witnessed written document or oral statement in which instructions are given by a principal or in which the principal’s desires are expressed concerning any aspect of the principal’s health…
As Jacksonville Elder Law Lawyers, we are always looking for the most effective and least restrictive ways in which to serve the needs of our Jacksonville elderly. We keep current of the Florida statutes and the numerous Florida cases which interpret matters involving Florida’s senior citizens. Elder law encompasses many…
You have heard it all before again and again. The reason for the repetition is . . . there really are 7 estate planning documents that should be prepared before one dies. A Jacksonville Estate Planning lawyer will provide you with story after story that have no happy endings. These…
Raising and caring for your children is difficult enough without the additional complications that arise when you are bringing up children in a same-sex relationship. Inherent rights afforded to “straight” or heterosexual couples are non-existent for gay couples. The lack of legal rights for those in relationships not recognized by…
There are certain times when a Probate case can use Formal Notice to reduce the time required and other times when it is required. Formal notice is defined by the Florida Probate Code to be notice which is sent by via certified mail to each interested person. Sometimes notice can…