North Carolina Estate Planning Blog : North Carolina Estate Planning Lawyer & Attorney : Trust Counsel, PA : Trust Administration : Serving Chapel Hill, Durham, Raleigh, Pittsboro, Orange County, Chatham County

Being in a college town, most of my clients are intelligent and well educated, and many handle their own taxes and investments.  However, there are times when a professional's advice can be invaluable.  This recent article on The Motley Fool website provides some guidance about when to seek advice..

How do you choose a financial advisor?  I recommend working with a Certified Financial Planner (CFP).  CFPs  must pass a rigorous examination on investments, retirement planning, estate planning, taxes, insurance and more.  They are also required to have met educational and experience requirements and must adhere to strict standards of professional conduct.  For a directory of CFPs, take a look at www.cfp.net.

In addition, just as when searching for an attorney, ask your colleagues, friends and other professional advisors for recommendations.

Ideally, your CFP will work with your estate planning attorney and CPA to develop a comprehensive plan that will ensure that your financial future is as secure as possible.

• Email This
• Print
• Comments
• Trackbacks
• Share Link

"Intestacy" refers to how a person's property is distributed if he or she dies without a will.  Pennsylvania attorney Kurt Nilson has created a web-based calculator for determine how an intestate estate will be distributed under North Carolina law.

• Email This
• Print
• Comments (1)
• Trackbacks
• Share Link

The use of  a "Trust Protector" in trusts for maximum flexibility and protection is becoming increasingly common.  For a good explanation of what trust protectors do, when they are often used, and what to risks to be aware when using a trust protector, take a look at this article from Capital Trust of Delaware's website (click Continue reading):

Continue Reading...

• Email This
• Print
• Comments
• Trackbacks
• Share Link

An article in yesterday's Wall Street Journal discusses the problem of financial services firms providing late or amended Forms 1099.  These forms, which show the amounts of interest, dividends and capital gains attributable to each investment account, are necessary for preparation of one's income tax returns.  Both Wachovia and Morgan Stanley have obtained extensions from the IRS to file their 1099s, which will now be issued sometime in February.  In recent years, the amount of amended 1099s issued after the January 31 deadline has also increased.

The problem is that if you file too early, you may later receive a late or amended 1099, which would generally necessitate filing an amended return.

If you use a CPA or tax service you may not have much control over when your return is prepared, but if you can do so, it probably makes sense to wait until March to file your returns, especially if you are a Wachovia or Morgan Stanley client.

• Email This
• Print
• Comments
• Trackbacks
• Share Link

Professor Joshua Tate of Southern Methodist University has published an interesting and informative article on Incentive Trusts, which are generally used by parents to try to shape the behavior of their children.  The abstract is as follows:  This Article examines the contemporary phenomenon of incentive trusts: trusts that use money to encourage or discourage certain behaviors. Using evidence from Internet websites, practitioner articles, and newspaper articles, the Article considers the likely provisions that a typical incentive trust might have, and explains how such trusts might lead to a problem of inflexibility when they are not drafted so as to take into account the possibility of changed circumstances. The Article also examines current law regarding trust modification and termination as well as recent reform proposals, and suggests some alternatives that might better take into account the particular characteristics of incentive trusts. The citation is: Tate, Joshua C., "Conditional Love: Incentive Trusts and the Inflexibility Problem" . Real Property, Probate and Trust Journal, Vol. 41, pp. 445-496, 2006 Available at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=873625

• Email This
• Print
• Comments
• Trackbacks
• Share Link

Professor Christopher Hoyt of the University of Missouri School of Law has proved a useful summary of IRS Notice 2007-7, 2007-5 IRB 1, which provides guidance about Charitable IRA Rollovers.  This law, which became effective in 2006, allows anyone over age 70 1/2 to have up to $100,000 distributed directly to a qualifying charity and be excluded from income. Continue Reading...

• Email This
• Print
• Comments
• Trackbacks
• Share Link

This  week I'm attending the 41st Annual Heckerling Institute on Estate Planning in Orlando.  The Institute, sponsored by the University of Miami School of Law, is the nation's leading conference on estate planning.  The first speaker (and my former professor), Jeff Pennell of Emory Law School, stated that he thinks that estate tax repeal is now a dead issue.  We'll see what some of the other commentators have to say as the week goes on.

• Email This
• Print
• Comments
• Trackbacks
• Share Link

My entry of December  8 briefly discussed the changes to the Medicaid rules in North Carolina which were thought to take effect on January 1st. However, the rules will now be effective March 1, 2007.  Thus, there is still some time to do the more liberal planning allowable under the current rules.

• Email This
• Print
• Comments
• Trackbacks
• Share Link

Hartford Fire Insurance Company has sued the Wake County, North Carolina Clerk of Court, alleging that the Clerk's office failed to properly oversee funds held in guardianships for three minor children.  The court-appointed guardian transferred the funds to her personal account, causing the insurance company to have to make good on the guardians' bonds.  See this article in the News and Observer for the full story.

This is a perfect example of why everyone, even young, working class folks, should make sure they have an estate plan in place.  If this young woman had a will with a testamentary trust for her children, she could have named a responsible and knowledgeable trustee to handle the insurance money, avoiding the expense and other problems of guardianship.  Instead, her children's financial future was left to chance.

 

• Email This
• Print
• Comments
• Trackbacks
• Share Link