Retirement Account Beneficiary Designations
It is often difficult to figure out how to complete your retirement account beneficiary designation. Do you have a living trust? Should you name your trust as beneficiary? Are you married? Do you intend to leave money to charities — and should that money come from your retirement account(s)? All of these questions make it […]
October Roundup: Britney, Death Taxes, Rats Driving Cars
Each month, we like to survey the elder law landscape and share news stories we found interesting or helpful. The main October roundup item focuses on someone who’s not old: Britney Spears. She remains under conservatorship, a legal arrangement designed to help incapacitated people, often elderly but not always: What’s the Deal With Britney? Maria […]
Retirement Benefits and Community Property
Arizona is one of the nine U.S. states operating under the principles of “community property.” The basic premise of community property: assets acquired during the period of the marriage are presumed to belong to the marital community (and thus to the spouses equally). There are lots of qualifications and exceptions, but one issue crops up […]
Retirement Account Divided in Divorce
Arizona, of course, is a community property state. How does that affect the retirement account accumulated by one spouse during their marriage? Community property and the retirement account One spouse may have an interest in the other spouse’s retirement account, especially when it was accumulated during the marriage. State law, however, often takes a back […]
Federal Tax Cut Law Affects Seniors and Those With Disabilities
The Tax Cut and Jobs Act became law at the very end of 2017, and affects taxes for the current year. Many commentators have dissected how the tax cut law will affect tax rates, and business taxes. That’s not all the Act contains, however. A number of changes will particularly affect our older clients or […]
You Have a Trust — Now You Need a Beneficiary Designation
MARCH 21, 2016 VOLUME 23 NUMBER 11 You have decided to create a revocable living trust, naming your oldest daughter as successor trustee. Your trust directs that, upon your death, $10,000 is to go to each of your grandchildren, $50,000 to the Good Intentions charity, and everything else will be divided equally among your three […]
Even With No Estate Tax, Some Tax May Be Due on Inheritance
JUNE 9, 2014 VOLUME 21 NUMBER 21 Our clients are often confused about whether their heirs will owe any taxes on the inheritance they are set to receive. We don’t blame them — it’s confusing. Let us try to reduce the confusion. The federal estate tax limit was raised to $5 million and indexed for […]
Retirement Account Is Community Property But Need Not Be Split Equally
MAY 21, 2012 VOLUME 19 NUMBER 20 Arizona is one of the nine U.S. states which recognize “community property” (a tenth, Alaska, allows couples to voluntarily create community property interests). The other eight community property states: California, Idaho, Louisiana, Nevada, New Mexico, Texas, Washington and Wisconsin. Mention community property to a lawyer who has never […]
We Invite Your Questions, and Answer a Few
MAY 30, 2011 VOLUME 18 NUMBER 19 Periodically we try to answer some of our readers’ frequent questions, which we enjoy receiving. Some more recent questions and our quick attempts at simple answers follow. Remember, please, that slight variations in fact patterns can lead to different answers; these are intended as illustrations and guidance, not […]
Estate Tax Reform 2010 — Is It Over Yet?
DECEMBER 20, 2010 VOLUME 17 NUMBER 39 The ink is not yet dry on Congress’s tax and unemployment insurance compromise. Signed just last week by President Obama, the Tax Relief, Unemployment Insurance Reauthorization and Job Creation Act of 2010 has now become law. It continues previous income tax breaks for everyone, regardless of wealth. It […]
