We Did Our Trusts When Estate Taxes Were an Issue, Do We Still Need Separate Trusts?

New clients came in to review and update an estate plan they had set up several years ago. The estate plan included separate trusts for each spouse, which contained provisions to lessen the potential impact of federal estate taxes on their estates after their deaths. The trusts were drafted at a time when the federal […]

5 Points to Consider When Naming a Beneficiary

Who is a “beneficiary?” The word includes more than just the recipient of insurance funds or the inheritor of property. A beneficiary can be the recipient of funds or other property from a will, trust, retirement plan or life insurance. But there are differences with each beneficiary type. A recent article in the Chicago Tribune […]

Court of Appeals Upholds Rejection of SSI Special Needs Trust

The 8th Circuit Court of Appeals recently upheld a decision by the Social Security Administration to reject a type of special needs trust, known as a “(d)(4)(A) trust” (a trust designed to hold the assets belonging to a disabled person). A (d)(4)(A) trust is commonly used in special needs planning to qualify a disabled individual […]

What The Heck? I Collected Unemployment Benefits Last Year And Now The State Wants Me To Pay Them Back!

A colleague of mine told me about a recent call from a person who had received unemployment benefits last year, and now the State of Michigan has sent him a notice he was overpaid and is demanding return of the overpayment amount, with fines and penalties to boot.  The caller explained that he was back to work, […]

He Is Risen!

Now after the Sabbath, as the first day of the week began to dawn, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to see the tomb. And behold, there was a great earthquake; for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled back the stone from the door, and sat on it. […]