What Happens To My Will When I Get Married

Our latest video explains what happens to your will when you get married.

The Immediacy of Life

 

As a wills and trusts attorney, I feel a strong obligation to keep my conversations lite. The topics of my practice are such that the conversations are necessarily serious, so I often try to counteract that with humor and banality. However, sometimes we are faced with reality in such a way that it is evident that the inevitable must be addressed.

 

My daughter and I were making an early afternoon shopping trip to Wal-Mart this past Saturday. As we were waiting at a red light we witnessed a pick up truck make an illegal left turn directly into the path of an oncoming dune buggy. Right in front of us we witnessed a T-bone collision with virtually no warning and therefore virtually no braking. The dune buggy slammed into the side of the pick up truck knocking it onto its side with the top of the pick up truck sliding uncomfortably close to my daughters door. I jumped out of the passenger side door and had my daughter pull her car off to the side of the road. Miraculously the two men in the dune buggy appeared unhurt, but there was a strong smell of gasoline and the pick up driver was trapped in his vehicle. After checking on all drivers and passengers, it was apparent that by some miracle no one was seriously injured.

Despite the somewhat innocuous conclusion to this event, it does bring me to mind how unpredictable life is. Despite perpetually preaching to my clients to keep their estate plans up to date, I too sometimes become complacent about this necessity. It is not necessary to be ever mindful of the status of your estate plan, but it is important to review it periodically. Witnessing this event has spurred me to review my own estate plan, and if you have not reviewed yours in the memorable past, I urge you to do the same. As my father is fond of saying "tomorrow is promised to no one."

Gratitude of a Veteran

Another Veterans' Day is upon us. And as a veteran, I feel the outpouring of gratitude from my fellow Americans, and I too am grateful for my fellow veterans especially those that served during wartime.

 

But as a veteran, I also have a great deal for which to be thankful. As a 17 year old recruit, the Army paid me very well. It taught me discipline, organization, and leadership. I experienced, camaraderie that few who have never served in something like the military will ever experience. I got to see a great deal of the world, and in Europe, I even met my bride. In addition to all of these other benefits, the US Army paid for a great deal of my education. So on a day in which we honor our veterans, please accept the gratitude of this veteran for all this country has done for me.

Congress Makes 5 Million Dollar Estate Tax Exemption Permanent

Congress worked through the Holidays to avert the looming fiscal cliff.  The result was the American Taxpayer Relief Act ("ATRA" for short).

The impact on Estate & Gift Taxes was a permanent increase in the lifetime exemption to 5 million dollars.  Furthermore, the exemption is indexed for inflation, so the effective exemption for 2013 is 5.25 million.

In addition to the increase in the exemption, the top tax rate is set at 40% as opposed to 55% under the old laws.
 
Finally, portability was made a permanent part of the law as well.  Portability is the ability of a surviving spouse to have use of the unused portion of the first spouse's exemption.  This effectively gives married couples a 10 million dollar exemption.  Please keep in mind, to preserve this exemption, an estate tax return must be filed upon the death of the first spouse, and subsequent remarriage can have an effect on the use of this credit.