The importance of keeping your documents in order When my mom passed away in June, my sisters handled most of the day-to-day issues, and I went to work handling the legal side of her affairs, as you might guess. Our jobs were not that hard because my mom had a modest estate, and she had…
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A Family Meeting Can Play a Key Role in Your Estate Planning Over the years, both Keith and I have stressed to our clients the importance of communicating your estate plan to your family. Holding a family meeting is a good way to do this. We feel so strongly that a family meeting plays a…
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The Decades of Your Life Birth to 10 This is the time your parents teach you right from wrong, grandparents are buying you everything, parents take you everywhere. They show you off to everyone; they are carrying pictures of you in their wallets, or nowadays on their iPhones. You get the best vacations, go on…
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We’ve Lost Margaret Keith’s mom, Margaret, died last month at the age of 92. Margaret worked in our office for 21 years as Bill Scott’s secretary. She reluctantly retired just a few years ago at age 87. Margaret went back to work at age 63. She hadn’t worked in an office for 30 years. She…
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Recent United States Supreme Court Decision Has Significant Effect on Inherited IRAs In the recent United States Supreme Court decision in Clark vs. Rameker, the Court ruled that inherited IRAs are not “retirement” accounts for purposes of the federal bankruptcy protection statutes. This ruling has a significant effect on IRA planning. As we are all aware,…
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We Can Learn From Celebrity Estate Planning Mistakes Celebrities. We see them on television. We watch their movies. We purchase and download their music. We read about them in magazines. They’re everywhere. Most of us living normal, everyday lives, find it hard to relate to the seemingly perfect lives enjoyed by stars. However, just like…
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Put Your Plan in Place and Share it with Family If you watch movies, you will likely remember the film, “Gran Torino” which Clint Eastwood directed and played the main character. Eastwood‘s character’s name was Walt, a Korean War veteran and retired autoworker. As the movie unfolds, we learn that Walt is still grieving the…
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A Checklist for Family of Immediate Tasks After the Death of a loved One One of the services we provide at Scott, Tokerud & McCarty, P.C., is probate/trust administration of decedents’ estates. We occasionally are called by family members or others involved in the affairs of the deceased and asked what they should do or…
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What does Obamacare mean for you? I really don’t want to debate whether we should have Obamacare in the first place, but in preparing for a recent workshop for our Peace of Mind Protector client service program, I asked my friend Bruce Lahti of the Junkermier office, who is an expert in the area, what…
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Estate Planning 101: Make Sure Your Beneficiary Designations Coordinate With Your Estate Plan When you die, your property is transferred to your family/beneficiaries in one of several ways, depending on what arrangements you have in place. If you have a Will, your property is transferred pursuant to its terms. If your property is held in…
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