Important Estate Planning Considerations When It Comes to Transferring or Selling Your Vacation Home

Thinking About Transferring or Selling Your Vacation Home: Here are some important things to consider as you decide what’s best for you and your family. As the summer season is in full swing, many of us find joy in spending time at our vacation or second homes. These properties are often sources of cherished memories, especially for families who have spent countless summers together. However, maintaining a vacation home can be a significant responsibility, leading many owners to ponder whether it’s better to keep the property or pass it down to heirs. Deciding between selling the home or transferring it can be challenging, especially when considering family dynamics and the current real estate market. When deciding whether to sell or keep your vacation home, it’s essential to assess your family’s needs and desires. Ask yourself do all parties involved want to keep or use the property equally or if some

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The Best Gift for Mom is Taking Care of Your Estate Plan

Are you struggling to find the right gift for Mom that is both practical and loving? Well look no further than making sure your estate plan is in the best shape possible. Have you been putting off creating an estate plan or making important updates to your plan? Has your Mom been doing the same but you know there are things that need to be done? Taking care of yourself is the best gift you can give to your Mom. Statistics and research shows it can also be a good example to parents and a conversation-starter about estate planning. According to recent research, only 32% of Americans have an estate plan, and the percentage of older adults who have an estate plan is in decline. Younger generations have become more proactive about making estate plans, according to recent research. Millennials started estate planning earlier than Gen X or Boomers. Gen

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Estate Planning Documents for College Age Children

Has your child received their college acceptance letter? Here is the first thing that you should do once they know where they are going to school. Make Sure They Are Safe and Protected Did you know that if they face a serious injury or illness and they are over the age of 18, then you may have significant trouble making health care decisions on their behalf while they are away at school? Every child over 18 should have certain key estate planning documents in place in case of illness, accident or emergency. Even if your child is still in high school they are legally an adult at the age of 18, so it’s important to sit down with them before they reach this age and discuss next steps. What Estate Planning Documents Does Your Child Need? At minimum, every child needs a health care proxy, power of attorney, and a

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The Corporate Transparency Act – Is It Dead Yet?

A few months ago, word was slowly spreading about the federal government’s new requirements under the Corporate Transparency Act (CTA) that business must disclose information about the beneficial ownership structure of corporations, limited liability companies, limited partnerships, and other entities in order to combat money laundering, fight criminal activity by individuals and organizations and promote efficient tax administration. Under the law, tens of millions of individuals are required to disclose their personal information to the government or face civil, criminal fines and potentially jail. Within months of this new law going into effect on January 1, 2024, lawsuits were filed challenging the constitutionality of this new law. The first lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Alabama. That action was brought by a small business owner and an organization of business owners who argued that the mandatory disclosure of the information required by the

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Is Your Trust Safe in a Divorce? The Implications of Jones v. Jones for Estate Planning in Massachusetts

An important recent case in Massachusetts has planning implications for married couples, especially when there is inherited property. The divorce of Jones v. Jones was filed in 2019. Inherited property and gifted property was a significant issue in the divorce. The wife’s mother had set up an irrevocable trust for the benefit of her daughter and had supported the couple financially throughout the marriage. The judge in the case deemed that the trust should be treated as marital property. The wife disagreed on the grounds that the interest in the trust was too speculative to be defined as such. In September 2023, the Massachusetts Appeals Court decided that the trust could be considered marital property. The wife argued that she had not received any distributions from the trust and she would not receive the trust assets in full until her mother’s death. Yet the appeals court found that the existence

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