by Dave Duringer | Nov 3, 2018 | Estate Planning, Family Protection, Health Planning, Incapacity Planning
This flawed article also makes some very good points, so i’m copying a good portion of it below. [Just note that gun ownership is NOT declining as the article states (see here, here, and here).] While discussions about guns and gun ownership are common political...
by Dave Duringer | Nov 3, 2018 | Asset Protection, Estate Planning, Family Protection, Firearm Legacy, Firearm Training, Health Planning, Incapacity Planning, Tax Planning
Here is a great little slideshow on top estate planning priorities to avoid tragedy and missed opportunity (“Top 10 Dangers Facing Senior Citizen Clients”) which I summarize below (adding a little California-relevant detail of my own), with a link...
by Dave Duringer | Nov 1, 2018 | Family Maintenance, Family Protection, Health Planning, News & Commentary
Sounds like a good idea, possibly for inclusion in incentive trust planning: “I want to make a promise to myself and to God that I will stay pure until I get married. “I don’t have to have sex to know that I am loved.” The Purity Movement preaches...
by Dave Duringer | Nov 1, 2018 | Death Tax, Estate Planning, Tax Planning
Our Firearms Instruction and Responsible Stewardship Trust (F.I.R.S.T. Family Trust) takes many forms as it is custom like all our planning, but one variant involves a Health and Education Exclusion Trust. This type of trust allows you to give much greater...
by Dave Duringer | Oct 24, 2018 | Creditors & Predators, Estate Planning, Income Tax, Tax Planning
This Virginia attorney writes a very good article summarizing some of the problems of transferring real estate to a child as an alternative to actual estate planning. Capital gains tax due to loss of basis step-up, medicaid lookback (California’s medi-cal...
by Dave Duringer | Oct 24, 2018 | Blended Families, Dying Embarrassed, Family Maintenance, Family Protection, Health Planning, Horror Stories, News & Commentary
There are lots of ways to die embarrassed. Bad estate planning is one example; see the category above for others. Nothing can top being trampled for eternity while listening to bad puns! Seriously, have you given thought to the ultimate disposition of your remains? Do...
by Dave Duringer | Oct 19, 2018 | Asset Protection, Bloodline Protection, Creditors & Predators, Estate Planning, Income Tax, Spendthrift Children, Tax Planning
California recently (9/14/18) joined a few other states that have enacted the Uniform Trust Decanting Act. A lot of states have decanting statutes, several dozen in fact, but they vary greatly and this uniform act is more restrictive than those in some of the more...
by Dave Duringer | Sep 7, 2018 | Health Planning, Incapacity Planning
This article is a good overview, written by a financial advisor. However, note that powers of attorney only deal with non-trust assets and are frequently rejected by institutions so be sure that your trust is funded and adequately plans for incapacity as well...
by Dave Duringer | Jul 12, 2018 | Asset Protection, Business Succession, Estate Planning, Limitation of Liability, Venture Protection
In at least one sense business succession planning is like planning for guns: you need to make sure beneficiaries are responsible enough to handle the asset. Plus a little asset protection might be a good idea. Putting aside the ultimate outcome of the...
by Dave Duringer | Jul 4, 2018 | Health Planning
Have you addressed this issue in your Advanced Health Care Directive? Implantable cardioverter defibrillators (ICDs) differ from pacemakers, which control abnormal heart rhythms. Pacemakers prompt the heart to beat at a normal rate through electrical pulses, whereas...
by Dave Duringer | Jul 4, 2018 | Health Planning, Incapacity Planning
I know, I know: “From my cold dead hands!” But isn’t it better to have a plan worked out with family — for guns, for long term care, for a bunch of things? Blessing had reportedly concealed two pistols in the pockets of her robe and then...
by Dave Duringer | Feb 28, 2018 | Asset Protection, Tax Planning
In addition to changes in life insurance purchase reporting requirements and basis calculation, the recent Tax Cuts and Jobs Act brings the following changes to life insurance planning: The doubling of the estate tax exemption will eliminate the need for most...
by Dave Duringer | Feb 14, 2018 | Family Protection, Health Planning, Incapacity Planning
Why is it that Muslim countries seem to figure so prominently in black market organ trafficking, and human trafficking in general? Non-consensual spinal tap — more reason to have a good health care directive these days. Pakistani police have arrested four...
by Dave Duringer | Jan 26, 2018 | Archived, Asset Protection, Estate Planning, Property Tax, Tax Planning
One of the hidden costs of cheap estate planning is the unexpected and very unpleasant surprise of property tax reassessment. We’ll focus on this topic at our Family Protection Clinic (aka estate planning seminar) lunch meeting on Tuesday, March 27, 2018. (Our...
by Dave Duringer | Jan 25, 2018 | Archived, Asset Protection, Death Tax, Estate Planning, Family Protection, Firearm Legacy, Income Tax, Tax Planning
When it comes to taxes and gun control, it’s hard to keep up with Sacramento and DC. One way is to have your estate planning attorney on speed dial. A smarter way is to have that attorney draft with flexibility in mind, so you can have peace of mind. We’ll focus...
by Dave Duringer | Jan 24, 2018 | Archived, Estate Planning, Health Planning, Incapacity Planning
When you are down for the count, who will be calling the shots for you? You can control what happens, if you know about advance health care directives. We’ll focus on this topic at our Family Protection Clinic (aka estate planning seminar) lunch meeting on...
by Dave Duringer | Jan 14, 2018 | Archived, Asset Protection, Blended Families, Bloodline Protection, Estate Planning, Family Protection
Often when I meet with blended families, they already sense the need for special planning due to their situation but are not aware of the many alternatives. Traditional families often overlook the very significant possibility, even probability in many cases,...
by Dave Duringer | Jan 14, 2018 | Archived, Asset Protection, Creditors & Predators, Estate Planning, Spendthrift Children
You’ve heard a lot about asset protection in recent years — why so much talk about asset protection? We’ll focus on this topic at our Family Protection Clinic (aka estate planning seminar) lunch meeting on Tuesday, January 30, 2018. (Our weekly seminar...
by Dave Duringer | Jan 13, 2018 | Archived, Asset Protection, Creditors & Predators, Estate Planning, Income Tax, Retirement Planning, Spendthrift Children, Tax Planning
For many families, a large portion of the estate rests in a retirement plan which, on its own and without further planning, is essentially a separate estate plan with assets left completely unprotected. How do you protect and preserve the inheritance of retirement...
by Dave Duringer | Dec 27, 2017 | Death Tax, Estate Planning, Gift Tax, Tax Planning
Under either formulation of purpose, that is, the “unified” approach or the “fairness” approach, in issuing its regulations, the IRS would be compelled to use the basic exclusion amount in effect the time of the decedent’s death for purpose of computing the...
