Use of a personal property memorandum – sometimes you need to sweat the small stuff An elderly woman has an estate worth $450,000, all in a brokerage account. She has four children and a last will and testament stating that she wants each child to receive 25% of her assets after she dies. The situation…
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Does equal mean fair in estate planning? Our clients, as parents, want to treat their children fairly and equally. Splitting assets equally among children may be easy, but is it fair or equitable? Equal and fair can be vastly different depending on the estate plan and this is where it can become difficult because in…
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Use of incentive trusts in estate planning Many clients today are concerned about not only transferring their estates upon death in a tax-efficient manner, but also a structuring their estate plans so that the lives of their children, and perhaps grandchildren and other descendants, are enhanced. Clients often express a concern that if their children…
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Choosing Your Estate Planning Team Here are some tips when choosing an estate planning team, as set forth in Keith’s book, “Introduction to Estate Planning – How to Protect and Pass on Your Legacy,” Bardolf & Company, 2017. The Importance of a Team You will do your best planning if you work with a team. You want…
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What is Estate Planning? Here is our definition of estate planning, as set forth in Keith’s book, “Introduction to Estate Planning – How to Protect and Pass on Your Legacy,” Bardolf & Company, 2017. We define estate planning as follows: “I want to control my property while I’m alive and well, take care of myself…
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Understanding IRA Required Minimum Distributions (RMDs) The money you contribute to a traditional Individual Retirement Account is not counted as income in the year you contribute it. As a result, the contribution is put into the account without paying any tax. The government allows you to delay paying tax in order to encourage you to…
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Our Living Trust Planning Process Here’s how our unique process for trust-based estate planning, Peace of Mind By Design, works. Our process is also described in Keith Tokerud’s book, “Introduction to Estate Planning – How to Protect and Pass on Your Legacy,” Bardolf & Company, 2017. The Right Fit Conversation We start with The Right Fit Conversation. You…
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Montana Beneficiary Deed (Please note: The 2019 Montana Legislature replaced Beneficiary Deeds with Transfer on Death Deeds. See blog posted November 19, 2020.) Montana allows an owner of real property located within the state to avoid the probate process for such real property by creating and recording a special type of deed known as a…
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Blog Anniversary December 1st will be a milestone in our office. We started our blog 7 years ago and we have covered a lot over that time and seen a lot happen. Keith’s first blog introduced you to Jana and Jeanne. Well, Jana left us to pursue other avenues. We still keep in touch with her…
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The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act: no change to treatment of retirement accounts On November 2, 2017, Republicans in the House of Representatives released their version of the tax reform bill, The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (the “GOP Act”). The GOP Act in its current form is still subject to revision, even before it…
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