If you’re an animal lover and have a pet of your own, you likely consider your pet to be a member of the family. And since your furry friends can provide protection, emotional support, and unconditional love, such consideration is often well deserved. In stark contrast, the law considers your pet nothing more than personal property. That means that without plans in place, your pet will be treated just like your Read More
6 Steps to Select and Name the Right Guardians for Your Minor Children—Part 2
In Part 1 of our blog post, we shared the first part of our series on selecting and naming the right guardians for your children. Here in Part 2, we discuss the final three steps in the process. Narrow Candidate List and Rank Choices When you’ve come up with all of the potential candidates for guardian, narrow down the list to your top five people. There’s no guarantee that your ideal candidate(s) will be Read More
Lifetime Asset Protection Trusts: Asset Protection for Your Child’s Inheritance—Part 2
If you’re planning to leave your children an inheritance of any amount, you likely want to do everything you can to protect what you leave behind from being lost or squandered. While most attorneys will advise you to distribute the assets you’re leaving to your kids outright at specific ages and stages based on when you think they will be mature enough to handle an inheritance, there is a much better choice for Read More
Tax Implications of Purchase Price Allocation in Business Transactions
There are countless considerations businesses should address when merging with another company or acquiring one. Among these is the Purchase Price Allocation, which is the process by which an acquiring company distributes the sale amount into various assets and liabilities that have carried over from a target company. The buyer and seller often have different ideas on how to allocate the purchase price in addition to Read More
6 Steps to Select and Name the Right Guardians for Your Minor Children—Part 1
One of your most important responsibilities as a parent is to select and legally document guardians for your minor children. This doesn’t mean just naming godparents or trusting the grandparents will step in if necessary. It means consciously deciding who would raise your children if you cannot, and legally documenting your choices to make sure the people you chose know what to do if they’re ever called Read More
4 Year-End Tax-Saving Strategies for 2019
As we head towards the end of the year, we’re fast approaching the deadline to implement your family’s tax strategies for 2019. The Tax Cut and Jobs Act (TCJA) completely overhauled the tax code, and if you’ve yet to take full advantage of the benefits offered by the new tax law, now is the time to do so. To qualify for some TCJA tax benefits, you’ll need to act by December 31, so don’t wait to get started. The Read More
Lifetime Asset Protection Trusts: Asset Protection for Your Child’s Inheritance—Part 1
As a parent, you’re likely hoping to leave your children an inheritance. In fact, doing so may be one of the motivating factors driving your life’s work. But without taking the proper precautions, the wealth you pass on is at serious risk of being lost or squandered. In some instances, an inheritance can even wind up harming your children more than benefiting them. Creating a Revocable Living Trust offers some Read More
To Trademark or Not to Trademark – What Should You Do?
When running a business, you have a lot to think about and you need to make sure everything is handled properly in order to succeed. One thing that many businesses don’t fully understand or take advantage of is trademark law. While everyone knows that the basic idea behind a trademark is to protect a logo, word, phrase, picture, or other item related to your business, most people don’t know when they should or Read More
Estate Planning for Business Owners: 4 Ways You Can Incorporate Your Business Interests Into Your Estate Plan
Estate planning, as a process, offers a wide range of flexible tools that you can use to plan for your personalized needs. For example, if you own a business, you can use your estate plan to specify what will happen to your business should you become incapacitated or pass away. This minimizes the amount of work and tough decisions for your beneficiaries, and may even help you keep your business out of probate. Read More
California Estate Planning: Who Gets Your Business If It’s Not In Your Estate Plan?
Estate planning can be overwhelming, and it gets even more complex if you own a business that needs to be distributed amongst loved ones and family members. Your estate plan should specifically include what you wish to happen to your business and what provisions should be made for beneficiaries who want to sell their portion of the business. If your business is not included in the estate plan, or your business does Read More
