Charitable Remainder Annuity Trusts (also known as CRATs) have been blessed by IRS since 1970. So why is the IRS now proposing to make CRATs reportable with your individual tax return with hefty penalties for not reporting? The short answer is due to the abuse of this income tax and estate tax planning tool. The long answer is a bit more complicated.
Up until now, a domestic partner was treated essentially as a legal stranger in an intestate estate (one without a Will) and had only a limited exemption from inheritance taxes in the State of Maryland.
Creating a power of attorney can give you peace of mind by empowering someone you trust to manage your affairs on your behalf in certain situations. McMillan Metro Faerber’s DMV area. attorneys have helped many of our clients create individualized powers of attorney that meet their unique needs.
Having the right person manage a trust is critical to its success, and there may come a time when removing a trustee is necessary. Though it can be intimidating, understanding how to properly and legally remove a trustee can help make the process go more smoothly.
I was reading an article in The Atlantic the other day, and it got me thinking about estate planning and why it’s so important – especially for non-traditional families.
Establishing an estate plan is a crucial step toward peace of mind. An estate plan typically includes the following documents: a Will, a Financial Power of Attorney, a Health Care Power of Attorney, and in many cases, a Revocable Living Trust. These documents help control your assets if you become disabled or pass away.
The Health Care Power of Attorney and the Advance Medical Directive are critically important estate planning documents. The Advance Medical Directive (often called a “Living Will”) allows you to make your wishes known about whether to withhold life support in certain contexts. The Health Care Power of Attorney allows you to name someone (usually called an “agent” or an “attorney-in-fact”) to make healthcare decisions for you, in the event you are incapable of doing so yourself.
“Larry, my Mom had a stroke a few days ago. She’s in a care facility now and isn’t able to make decisions. The doctors and administrators are asking me to sign papers and make decisions for her. What do I do?”
For those of you with children that have attained their 18th birthday and, especially, for those with children that may be heading off to college in the future, it is important that they have a health care power of attorney (HCPOA) in place. Young adults are highly susceptible to injuries, illnesses and accidents for which important medical decisions need to be made. This can be even more challenging when those children are residing far away.