The most important element in determining gift and estate liability is the value of the asset being transferred. To reduce that value, estate planners create family limited partnerships (FLPs) and family limited liability companies (LLCs). The...
In your initial meetings with clients, an answer to one question will give you insight into their values, lives and dreams and create a healthy anxiety that will motivate them to enlist your services. As nonchalantly as possible, ask, When you die...
Within 15 minutes of my daughter Ellie's birth, I not only opened an UTMA investment account for her; I also planned out where she would attend college and what she would do when she grew up. Judging by her high-pitched wailing, I figured either a...
You know him: The Trust-Fund Brat the party-hearty, layabout rich kid who never made a dime in his life and scoffs at the word The type of guy that might be inclined to ditch his dorm room and blow the endowment on Porsche, Prada and Paris. The...
When a spouse dies, the law is completely clear. In the U.S., even without a will, the widow or widower automatically gets the assets. Being married is like taking the car pool lane, says Frederick Hertz, an attorney in Oakland, Calif., and author...
Last month we discussed the benefits of limited partnerships and limited liability companies as estate planning tools. This month we will look at the recent Hackl case, which struck terror in the hearts of estate planning professionals and their...
When meeting with current or prospective clients who have young children, you can, by asking one simple question and two follow-ups, gain their trust, get them to disclose their entire financial picture and ingratiate yourself with a great source...
If you are serving high-net-worth clients or hope to do so you should be familiar with family limited partnerships, or their kissing cousins, limited liability companies. These are estate planning and asset management tools that wealthy families...
It's easy to see why charitable remainder trusts, or CRTs, continue to grow in popularity. You get to eat your cake and have it, too. CRTs allow donors to sell appreciated stock without paying capital gains, place them in trust and hang onto an...
