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Does equal mean fair in estate planning? Our clients, as parents, want to treat their children fairly and equally. Splitting…

Giving to Charity Giving to Charity  We are all blessed to live in a giving community. Over the years, I…

Estate Tax Exemption And Annual Gift Tax Exclusion For 2021 Official Estate and Gift Tax Limits for 2021  The Internal Revenue…

Montana Transfer on Death Deed Transfer on Death (TOD) Deed  Montana has replaced the Beneficiary Deed with the Transfer on…

Our 2020 Reminder to Relax and Enjoy Life (Whenever & However You Can) This year has been hard for so…

How to Own Your Real Estate in Montana Real Estate Ownership  Real estate encompasses not only one’s primary residence but…

Estate Planning Terms to Know Estate Planning  Estate planning—it is an incredibly important tool, not just for the wealthy or…

Estate Planning Strategies to Consider in an Election Year [Please note:  This post is shared and intended to be for…

Potential Tax Law Changes That Would Affect Estate Planning [Please note:  This post is shared and intended to be for…

The Work of a Legal Assistant If you Google “Legal Assistant” you would find job descriptions that list seemingly boring…

Preparing for Coronavirus: The #1 Legal Document Every Adult Needs to Have As the coronavirus continues to disrupt daily life…

Five Common Mistakes with “DIY“ Estate Plans In light of the current pandemic, many people are becoming aware of the…

Important Steps to Protect Your Special Beneficiaries All children are a blessing. From the day they are born, you begin…

Protect Your Finances From Coronavirus Complications Many Americans spend a lot of time and effort in managing their finances. While…

What should I do if I’ve received a Covid-19 Stimulus Check for a deceased person? It has come to our…

CORONAVIRUS / COVID 19: Essential Estate Planning Considerations for Yourself and Loved Ones With the threat and uncertainty of COVID-19,…

If A Decedent Dies Without A Will, How Are The Assets Distributed? Each state has statutes called “Intestacy” statutes that…

The SECURE Act and Your Estate Plan On December 20, 2019, President Trump signed the Setting Every Community Up for…

Myth: A Will Avoids Probate Many people believe that once they have created a Will–whether drafted by an experienced attorney…

Estate Planning Awareness Week: The Importance to You and Your Family of Having an Estate Plan In 2008, Congress recognized…

Why Living Trust Plans Don’t Work Many people think of estate planning as a one-time event. They may put a…

529 Plans and Their Advantages A 529 plan, otherwise known as a qualified tuition plan, is a tax-sheltered way of…

Your Estate Plan – Follow George Washington’s Example We talk often about the importance of a well-thought out estate plan. …

The Grantor Trust – It’s an Income Tax Concept Many kinds of trusts are used in estate planning.  Trusts can…

Who Should Handle Your Affairs? Have you taken the time to consider whom you want to name to help if…

State Taxation of Trusts On June 21, 2019, the US Supreme Court ruled in North Carolina Department of Revenue v.…

Are you prepared if disaster strikes? The most common response I hear when I ask if a person has finished …

Your Estate Plan – It’s Not Just About Your Assets, It’s About Your Legacy What’s most important to pass on…

Hospital Ordered to Pay $400,000 in Do-Not-Resuscitate Lawsuit I saw the following article in the Great Falls Tribune this past…

Tanya is Retiring May 31st marks the last day for our longtime employee, Tanya Steil, who is retiring. She has…

Coping with a Terminal Diagnosis: Getting Your Affairs in Order, Living Your Life A terminal illness diagnosis is always devastating,…

All Natural Ways To Cope With Grief & Loss Unfortunately, loss is a part of life, and something that everyone…

Federal Estate Tax Portability This is a written summary of the availability of “portability” under the federal estate tax laws.…

The “Death” Tax that Applies to Gifts In the “old days” people made annual gifts to minimize taxes.  Today, that’s…

What are your options to pay for long-term care? There are several common approaches for dealing with future long-term care…

A Checklist for Family of Immediate Tasks After the Death of a loved One (Originally posted May 16, 2014) With…

Consider using a limited liability company in succession planning for your cabin or vacation home? People who own cabins or…

Who can make burial or cremation arrangements in Montana? One question our office occasionally is asked is who can make…

The Lighter Side–Everyone’s Life is a Story Worth Sharing, Even if Make-believe A couple of weeks ago, I came across…

The 2014 Farm Bill Expired, Now What? The Farm bill covers the country’s agricultural funding, conservation efforts, and food aid. …

Long-Term Care: Planning and Paying for Your Eventual Needs America’s population is living longer, and with longer lives come increasing…

The Best and Most Practical Financial Advice for Seniors It’s hard work to reach retirement, and you want to spend…

The 10 commandments of retirement I came across a good, concise, article on retirement that I want to share.  It…

Which Business Entity Makes The Most Sense For Your Business? We always advise you to consult with a tax advisor,…

The Importance of Estate Planning It is estimated that a majority of Americans, perhaps over 60%, die without an estate…

Think Twice About Adding Your Children to Your Bank Account or Other Assets I see it often in our practice. …

The Veterans Asset Protection Trust The Veterans Asset Protection Trust can be an applicable and beneficial option for many of…

A New Tax Identification Number is Required for Revocable Living Trust After the Trustmaker’s Death Many of our clients choose…

What Is a Living Will? A living will is a document that allows you to say what should happen if…

Defining Your Goals Here is a great discussion about defining your goals when putting together your estate plan, as set…

What a Will Does Not Do A simple Will is a bares bones simple estate planning tool that contains not…

Estate Planning Tips for Families with Disabled Beneficiaries I recently came across an article on WealthManagement.com that does a good job of…

Discussing End-of-Life Arrangements With Your Loved Ones Understandably, most of us do not want to address the subject of death…

Montana has adopted the Revised Uniform Fiduciary Access to Digital Assets Act In today’s world, the nature of holding our…

Estate planning for military families With Memorial Day coming up, it is important to honor those that have served our…

Questions & Answers When Looking for an Elder Law and Special Needs Planning Attorney May is national elder law month. …

Common Misconceptions about Living Trusts People often hear things about living trusts from friends, family members and the media, and…

The benefits of using an irrevocable asset protection trust for long-term care planning Last week we discussed the continuing rise…

The cost of long-term care continues to rise Many people are shocked when they learn about the high cost of…

Effects of Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) on Estate Planning The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA), which was…

Estate Planning 101 At its most basic, an estate plan is your plan to control your assets during life and…

Pros and cons of taking Social Security at 62 Last week’s blog explored the 10 reasons why today’s retirees are…

10 Reasons Today’s Retirees are Relying on Social Security This is the first of two-blog post that will focus on…

Two provisions under the new tax law positively affect ABLE accounts The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act includes two provisions…

Refinancing your principal residence when owned by your revocable living trust We occasionally get calls from clients who are trying to…

How Caregivers Can Deal With Stress Related Insomnia Imagine a 50-year-old man caring for his elderly mother. His mother lives…

Three common mistakes to avoid when planning the succession of your business Many small business owners are focused on running…

The role of a premarital agreement in estate planning A premarital agreement, also known as a prenuptial agreement or prenup,…

Safekeeping your estate planning documents I received a call this week from a client who asked for copies of his…

Estate Planning – The Best Plan is YOUR Plan Here are some tips on maintaining control while in the process…

Estate Planning: Why you should NOT do it yourself Today’s blog is authored by LaTonya Elliott, one of the legal…

Use of a personal property memorandum – sometimes you need to sweat the small stuff An elderly woman has an…

Does equal mean fair in estate planning? Our clients, as parents, want to treat their children fairly and equally. Splitting…

Use of incentive trusts in estate planning Many clients today are concerned about not only transferring their estates upon death…

Choosing Your Estate Planning Team Here are some tips when choosing an estate planning team, as set forth in Keith’s…

What is Estate Planning? Here is our definition of estate planning, as set forth in Keith’s book, “Introduction to Estate…

Understanding IRA Required Minimum Distributions (RMDs) The money you contribute to a traditional Individual Retirement Account is not counted as…

Our Living Trust Planning Process Here’s how our unique process for trust-based estate planning, Peace of Mind By Design, works.  Our…

Montana Beneficiary Deed (Please note: The 2019 Montana Legislature replaced Beneficiary Deeds with Transfer on Death Deeds.  See blog posted…

Blog Anniversary December 1st will be a milestone in our office.  We started our blog 7 years ago and we have…

The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act: no change to treatment of retirement accounts On November 2, 2017, Republicans in the…

Veterans Day – remembering my father and thanking all those that have served My father has been deceased for over…

Helping Someone with Alzheimer’s Cope with a Spouse’s Death Losing a loved one to death is a traumatic experience for…

The risks of holding assets as joint tenants in order to avoid probate Owning assets jointly with one or more…

Near Retirement? Five Plans You Must Have in Place. I came across a short but important article in a recent…

Funding is vitally important in trust-based planning One of the best tools estate planning attorneys can utilize for clients is…

Single? Estate planning is still essential. More people are living single than ever before. In 1970, just about one-third of…

Update – Montanans with disabilities can now establish ABLE accounts In my blog post of January 21, 2015, we reported…

Projected estate tax exemption and annual gift tax exclusion for 2018 The Consumer Price Index was released by the Labor…

5 Retirement Planning Steps to Take When You Divorce I came across a short but important article related to retirement…

A Brief History of the Federal Estate Tax test Permalink Comment

How You Can Use Tech To Care For Seniors Far Away This was submitted to us by a guest blogger. …

Tough Decisions! My fiancé is the type of man that every woman dreams of.  He has been taking care of…

The Beneficiary-Controlled Trust The beneficiary-controlled trust (sometimes called an inheritor’s trust) is a vehicle for an heir to receive -…

The Importance of the Step-Up Basis Rule Before Congress enacted legislation a few years ago dramatically increasing the estate exemption…

Kids off to College? Key Legal Documents Needed. It is the time of year for our children to be going…

Family Bank Trust Any person currently may make a tax-free gift of up to $14,000 each year to anyone he…

Should You Consider an IRA Trust for Your Estate Plan? The biggest advantage of IRAs and other tax-deferred retirement savings…

Spendthrift Provisions in Trusts provision? It is language contained within a revocable or irrevocable trust that limits the beneficiary’s legal…

8 Estate Planning Things to Do Before You Travel My colleague and friend, Jim McVittie, of Portland, Oregon, has posted…

Estate Planning Checkup Mid-year is a good time to review your existing estate plan to ensure that it is up-to-date.…

New IRS Ruling Extends Deadline to Elect Portability on Behalf of Surviving Spouse The IRS recently issued Revenue Procedure 2017-34…

The American Health Care Act (AHCA) and its Potential Effect on Medicaid The last few months have involved a flurry…

Standalone IRA Beneficiary Trusts for Inherited IRAs It is pretty safe to say that almost everyone has heard of an…

It’s time to “put“ my mom in assisted living This was submitted to us by a client.  It’s a very…

Healthcare Documents – Nothing to Sneeze At! No matter what your age or health status, you ought to have healthcare…

Don’t Be an Estate Plan Procrastinator I recently read a book that I hope will help me both personally and…

Cyber security. What can we do to protect ourselves? Every day we hear about people losing money and having their…

Third-Party Special Needs Trusts I have previously posted a discussion of planning with special needs trusts (see my post of…

Update on the Military’s Survivor Benefit Plan and the Disabled Child About four years ago I posted a blog noting…

Estate planning with a team-based approach I recently finished the book, “The Boys in the Boat,” by Daniel James Brown.…

A Great Book about our Inadequate Healthcare System for the Elderly I think a lot about the healthcare options we…

Update – Montana has now implemented the ABLE Act In my blog post of January 21, 2015, and in one…

“Knowledgeable, Experienced and a Nice Guy.” I recently had a personal injury lawyer refer a client to me for estate…

Simple estate planning We all want to keep things simple.  What does that mean for your estate planning? What it doesn’t …

Giving to Charity Next week I am going on a short vacation.  The first few days of my time away…

An Overview of the ABLE Act What follows is an abbreviated version of our article that appeared in our firm’s…

A Time for Gratitude Even for a Norwegian the Christmas holidays are a time of great emotion.  For me there’s…

Planning Checklist For Those Assisting Elderly Family Members I gave a presentation the other night at a local assisted living…

The importance of keeping your documents in order When my mom passed away in June, my sisters handled most of…

A Family Meeting Can Play a Key Role in Your Estate Planning Over the years, both Keith and I have…

The Decades of Your Life Birth to 10 This is the time your parents teach you right from wrong, grandparents…

We’ve Lost Margaret Keith’s mom, Margaret, died last month at the age of 92.  Margaret worked in our office for…

Recent United States Supreme Court Decision Has Significant Effect on Inherited IRAs In the recent United States Supreme Court decision…

We Can Learn From Celebrity Estate Planning Mistakes Celebrities.  We see them on television.  We watch their movies.  We purchase…

Put Your Plan in Place and Share it with Family If you watch movies, you will likely remember the film,…

A Checklist for Family of Immediate Tasks After the Death of a loved One One of the services we provide…

What does Obamacare mean for you? I really don’t want to debate whether we should have Obamacare in the first…

Estate Planning 101: Make Sure Your Beneficiary Designations Coordinate With Your Estate Plan When you die, your property is transferred…

Estate and Long-Term Care Planning – Lessons From Baseball Another baseball season is upon us.  I’m always excited about the…

To Die at Home Don’t get me wrong.  I’m not criticizing nursing homes.  They have a real place in our…

How We Approach Estate Planning for Our Clients At Scott, Tokerud & McCarty we help our clients pass their property…

Make your estate planning really meaningful. Use it to transfer your most important assets. When you think of “estate planning,”…

What Am I Thankful For This Thanksgiving? Jury Duty! Most of us at some point have received in the mail…

The time bomb facing Montana businesses Many Montana businesses are corporations or LLC’s with several owners.  Many of these businesses…

At least one person thinks I’m right about medical records. Don’t let anyone ever tell you that spouses never listen…

You want the best health care? Take charge of your medical records. The best way to get better health care?…

Getting better health care. As we age, we deal more and more with the health care industry.  More doctor visits…

Mom’s generosity + no planning = bad result Mom has been helping her kids all their lives.  She isn’t wealthy…

A family wedding In our estate planning Jon and I don’t limit our attention to physical objects and money. Those…

Russian literature and estate planning. I just finished a novel called The Last Station.  It deals with the last year of the life…

The story of one farmer’s estate planning. Here’s a story I heard earlier this week. A Montana farmer died leaving…

Yes, it can happen. I just couldn’t believe it. I came into the office on Thursday, and there was a…

Sharing Estate Planning with the Family. Dad was an elderly retired farmer with four daughters.  The youngest had had a…

Estate planning is not long-term care planning. Every lawyer says they do “estate planning.”  That usually means powers of attorney…

This is why we do what we do. Yesterday Tanya, my legal assistant, said: “This is why we do what…

The importance of estate planning. Jon and I presented our first Peace of Mind Protector workshop today.  We started off…

Your graduate needs to sign healthcare documents – this summer.   It’s the time of year for graduation ceremonies.  My…

Leaving property to heirs: outright or in trust? Should you leave a distribution to an heir outright or in trust?…

A key to a successful business exit: “growing“ an employee into an owner. Business exit planning usually means working to…

What if a business owner dies in the middle of an ownership transition process? As part of our Business Exit…

Pet trusts – estate planning isn’t just for humans! Estate planning – and the protection we can provide through planning…

Who can an owner sell his small business to? Most Montana businesses are small.  That makes it less likely that…

Planning for the Sale of the Family Business – Often Ignored Many of our clients own small businesses.  They work…

When mom and dad want to leave property to the kids jointly. Whether it’s a family’s business, ranch or cabin,…

The family cabin – mom and dad’s legacy In our last blog entry we identified legacy as one of the…

The balancing act of estate planning. When people come in to discuss their estate planning, they often start by focusing…

Do you still need a bypass trust? Under the 2012 Tax Act families with estates of roughly $10 million or…

What the New Tax Law Means to You Congress avoided the so-called fiscal cliff by passing – at the 11th…

Tis’ the season for the holiday Christmas parties…… Do you work for a company that throws annual Christmas parties?  I…

Fresh out of college! Fresh out of college, with a business degree and a hunger to succeed, I set out…

Taking up the challenge! We decided that all our team members should be able to blog if they want to. …

We lost our senior partner. Bill Scott, our senior partner, died earlier this month at his Swan Lake cabin with…

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS PROBATE ADMINISTRATION FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS 1. What is probate? Probate is the process of proving the Will, appointing…

Gifting to a Minor with Special Needs We previously have posted blog entries about special needs planning and about gifting. …

Digital Estate Planning Services I was asked recently to give a presentation to the trust officers at a local corporate…

It’s the Holiday Season – time to think about gifts. At this time of year we are frequently discussing gifts…

Montana’s New Uniform Power of Attorney Act Effective October 1, 2011, Montana has adopted the Uniform Power of Attorney Act. …

Whither the estate tax? We’ve been hearing a lot lately about what to expect concerning the federal estate tax, so…

Dedication and Heart Today I get to brag about my colleague and mentor, Jon S. McCarty.  His dedication and heart…

The Military’s Survivor Benefit Plan and the Disabled Child – Elect with Care Great Falls is blessed to have Malmstrom…

Some simple planning ideas that are hard to carry out. I spoke to a group of CPA’s yesterday.  I had…

Loved Ones Becoming Adults That special season is upon us again, graduation season.  Each year I really enjoy watching the…

Planning with Special Needs Trusts Parents sometimes think they must disinherit their disabled child in order to preserve his or…

We now provide long-term care planning -Advertising Material – We are launching a new area of practice: long-term care planning.…

Naming a Guardian for your Minor Children This is one of the most personal and difficult decisions my husband and…

The new tax law We certainly didn’t expect to find ourselves with a tax law – even if it is…

Special Needs Planning Special Needs Planning  This is the first post in a category that I, and I’m sure Keith…

New Year’s Resolutions (I originally posted this almost ten years ago, but it still holds true today.) We all make…

Family Matters With tax matters dominating the news this past week, I thought it was appropriate to point out that…

Our first blog post We’ve wanted to launch a blog for a long time but there was always more research,…