Single? Estate planning is still essential. More people are living single than ever before. In 1970, just about one-third of Americans 15 and older were single, according to U.S. census data. Today, that number’s closer to 50 percent. Whether never married, divorced or widowed, singles need to pay just as much attention to their estate…
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Update – Montanans with disabilities can now establish ABLE accounts In my blog post of January 21, 2015, we reported that in late 2014 the federal ABLE (” Achieving a Better Life Experience”) Act was signed into law by Congress. Montana implemented the ABLE law in May, 2015, as was reported in my blog post…
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Projected estate tax exemption and annual gift tax exclusion for 2018 The Consumer Price Index was released by the Labor Department in August 2017. For most, the release of the Consumer Price Index goes unnoticed. However, this allows the experts to predict the 2018 estate tax exemption and gift tax exclusion amounts. According to Bloomberg…
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5 Retirement Planning Steps to Take When You Divorce I came across a short but important article related to retirement planning that was included in the June 15, 2017, Financial Advisor Magazine. The article is entitled, “5 Retirement Planning Steps to Take When Clients Divorce,” authored by Christopher Robbins. Although the article is targeted specifically…
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What effect does moving out of state have on your estate plan? Generally speaking, an estate plan, including a will or trust and powers of attorney, validly executed in one state will be valid under the laws of any other state. From a practical standpoint, however, there are potential issues that may arise when you…
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A Brief History of the Federal Estate Tax test Permalink Comment
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How You Can Use Tech To Care For Seniors Far Away This was submitted to us by a guest blogger. It’s very informative and needs to be shared. If you have a blog you would like to share, please submit to TanyaB@MontanaEstateLawyer.com As people grow older, they could use some help from time to time. That’s why…
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Tough Decisions! My fiancé is the type of man that every woman dreams of. He has been taking care of his mother for the past 10 years. His sisters come to visit once a month or so, and his brother, who lives out of state, comes to visit twice a year. Now, he has been…
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The Beneficiary-Controlled Trust The beneficiary-controlled trust (sometimes called an inheritor’s trust) is a vehicle for an heir to receive – and enjoy – an inheritance without the inheritance being owned outright by the heir and hence subject to claims of his or her creditors. Thus, it is an asset protection tool. How does it work?…
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The Importance of the Step-Up Basis Rule Before Congress enacted legislation a few years ago dramatically increasing the estate exemption amount, the name of the game in estate planning was largely estate tax minimization or avoidance. Now, the current exemption amount is $5,490,000 per individual in 2017, and spouses have the ability to double that…
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