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Southern California: Agoura Hills, Altadena, Arcadia, Calabasas, Camarillo, Canoga Park, Eagle Rock, Encino, Fillmore, Glendale, Granada Hills, Highland Park, La Canada Flintridge, Los Angeles, Malibu, Moorpark, Ojai, Oxnard, Newbury Park, Northridge, Pasadena, Port Hueneme, Sierra Madre, Simi Valley, San Gabriel, San Marino, Santa Paula, Santa Barbara, Sherman Oaks, Somis, South Pasadena, Tarzana, Temple City, Thousand Oaks, Westlake Village, West Hills, Woodland Hills
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Maximizing the Value of Inherited IRAs
Stretching an inherited IRA is extremely valuable to the beneficiary. Learn what that means. An inherited IRA, or “beneficiary IRA”, is an account that gets opened when someone inherits an IRA after the death of its owner. The beneficiary may open an inherited IRA from any variety of eligible IRAs, from Roth and rollover to […]
Do All Estates Need Probate?
In California, a full probate is not necessary if someone dies with under $150,000 in assets. For example, say, Joe Client dies owning a bank account in his name worth $130,000 and no other assets. The beneficiaries (i.e., the ones getting Joe’s stuff under his will or intestacy if there is no will) complete what […]
Grass Valley, Nevada City, Lake Wildwood, Penn Valley and Alta Sierra Residents – Did You Know?
If you are a resident of Grass Valley, Nevada City, Lake Wildwood, Penn Valley or Alta Sierra, you now have more choices when selecting your Estate Planning attorney. The areas in and around Grass Valley and Nevada City already have living trust attorney’s in town, but just a short drive down Highway 49, in beautiful, […]
Have a Trust? Now fill it up!
If you have a living trust, you probably think that you will avoid probate. Well, that may be true, but having a stack of documents you call a trust is not enough to do the job, you have to now put assets in your trust. Imagine your living trust is a bucket. Once you sign […]
What happens when you die?
“In this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes,” Benjamin Franklin once wrote in a letter. Unfortunately, those words are just as true today as they were in the 1700s. Worse, sometimes the two come as a package deal. After all, when someone dies, their family members must go through a lengthy […]
Medical Tax Deductions – 2018
The deduction for qualified medical expenses has survived yet another round of tax reform. The IRS will allow a tax payer to deduct expenses that exceed 7.5% of their adjusted gross income for 2017 and 2018. Beginning in 2019, all taxpayers may deduct only the amount of the total unreimbursed allowable medical care expenses for […]
VA Disbursements have Increased
Helen Justice, Geriatric Care Manager, at Advanced Wellness, published an informative article on updates to VA disbursements: Are you a War-Time Veteran or Widow of War Time Veteran? There are Financial Benefits available for War Time Veteran and Widow of War Time Veteran to help defray the cost for senior placement Assisted Living Facilities, Board […]
The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act is Finally Here, No More Do Overs
–Our friends at Marcum, LLP recently published a detailed article on the new tax plan.– Highlights of key provisions include the following: Individual Provisions The act’s final version retains the seven overall tax brackets, but tax cuts are achieved by cutting the rates themselves. The final version cuts the top rate to 37% as follows: […]
2018 Medicare Parts A & B Premiums and Deductibles
On November 17, 2017, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released the 2018 premiums, deductibles, and coinsurance amounts for the Medicare Part A and Part B programs. It appears there aren’t many changes, but it’s still a good idea to familiarize yourself with the latest information. For example, Medicare Part B deductible is […]
Two Common Mistakes with Trusts
CunninghamLegal – The Living Trust Lawyers This is a great article from the American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys. The writer, Steve Harnett, J.D., LL.M., does a wonderful job of boiling it down to the essential facts. You can find the article here: Two Common Mistakes with Trusts This is a copy of the entire article […]