A will is a legal document that allows you to decide what happens with your estate after you passed away. Unfortunately, not all people consider creating one because they think that it’s complicated and just an extra expense.
I’m a beneficiary to my brother’s estate in New Jersey. My younger brother, the executor, is also a real estate broker. When he sold two properties from the estate, he paid himself real estate commissions totaling about $75,000. He never accounted for the rents on the real estate for the two years he managed the properties. Can he do this, and do I have any recourse?
We have all heard the saying ‘plan your work and work your plan.’ Planning is one of the most important aspects of managing any business. This is especially true for farms and agribusinesses, due to their complexity and the inherent uncertainties associated with agriculture.
Every estate plan should have a power of attorney, in which you give one or more people authority to act as agents on your behalf, when you aren’t able to. Every estate planner and guide to estate planning will tell you that. What few will tell you is there are at least two important instances when the power of attorney (POA) won’t be recognized and followed.
In addition to deciding who gets what when you die, you have key roles to fill that deserve thoughtful deliberation as part of the estate-planning process, experts say.
Ever since a group of philanthropists created the Giving Pledge in 2010, taxpayers have expressed greater interest in potential estate planning strategies that would allow them to leave a significant portion of their assets to charity upon their death.
In addition to the federal estate tax, with a top rate of 40 percent, some states levy an additional estate or inheritance tax. Twelve states and the District of Columbia impose estate taxes and six impose inheritance taxes. Maryland is the only state to impose both.
The year 2020, plagued by COVID-19, has exposed all of our vulnerabilities to disease and death, regardless of age, gender, and socio-economic class.
Over the years, several high-profile celebrities have died without either properly updating their estate plan or having one at all. The list includes Princess Diana, Prince, Heath Ledger, Michael Jackson and Kurt Cobain, all of whom were worth millions and among the most famous people on the planet at the time of their death.
Married people in second marriages with prior children often have to balance the future well-being of their spouse with that of their own children.
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