People often ask whether a will or a living trust is “better.” The answer is that there is no one-size-fits-all answer. The right structure for your estate plan depends on the size of your estate, the nature of your assets,…

Substance addiction is by no means rare, impacting as many as one in seven Americans. Because of its prevalence, navigating a loved one’s addiction is actually a relatively common topic in everyday life. But you should also consider it when…

Earlier this year, NBA team owner Gail Miller made headlines when she announced that she was effectively no longer the owner of the Utah Jazz or the Vivint Smart Home Arena. These assets, she said, were being placed into a…

If you have a revocable living trust, you probably named yourself as trustee so you can continue to manage your own financial affairs, but eventually someone will need to step in for you when you are no longer able to…

If you create an irrevocable trust, you will need a separate person or institution, called a trustee, to manage the trust either now or in the future. Choosing the right trustee is crucial to making sure your wishes are carried out.…

Things don’t always go according to plan. On the other hand, sometimes pet owners can get a bit creative when providing for their pets. Let’s take a look now at 3 famous cases involving pet trusts and distill important lessons…

As Ambrose Bierce once darkly observed, “Death is not the end. There remains the litigation over the estate.” Obviously, ideally, when someone passes away, the paperwork and material concerns associated with the estate are so flawlessly handled (thanks to excellent…

Not long ago, pet trusts were thought of as little more than eccentric things that famous people did for their pets when they had too much money. These days, pet trusts are considered mainstream. For example: in May 2016, Minnesota…

Section 2704 of the Internal Revenue Code (IRC) pertains to family-controlled corporations and partnerships, specifically dealing with gratuitous transfers between family members in connection with the family owned business. According to IRC, the IRS can treat some of these transfers…

When establishing a trust, you need to give serious thought to choosing your successor trustee—the person who will administer your trust once you’re no longer able to do so. This individual ideally should be: Someone you trust implicitly. Someone who…