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Friday, July 29, 2011 Recent Press Coverage of Estate Planning (July 29, 2011)
Saabira Chaudhuri of the Wall Street Journal notes that when completing your estate plan, you shouldn’t lose focus of some of the smaller, but important, details. One area often overlooked is what will happen to your pets. There are approximately 165 million dogs and cats in this country, and roughly 400,000 need to find a new home every year because their owners die. Also, if you have engaged in preserving sperm, eggs or embryos because you had cancer, were in the military or other high-risk occupation, don’t forget to spell what should happen to the cryopreserved gametes if you should die. See When Estate Plans Fail (July 23, 2011).
Kelly Greene of the Wall Street Journal stresses the importance of taking 15 minutes to write down your important user names and passwords for online accounts, including financial accounts, social networking accounts, and photo sites, among others. Without this information, your survivors could spend months trying to locate and access your important accounts. See PINs That Needle Families (July 23, 2011).
Paul Sullivan of the New York Times writes about charitable lead trusts (CLT) and why they are becoming popular again. The $5 million exemption level for the federal estate taxes alongside record low interest rates make CLTs good vehicles to pass more money to your heirs tax free. See A Trust Surges, Heirs and Taxes in Mind, But Mind the Details (July 22, 2011). Friday, February 25, 2011 Press Coverage of Estate Planning this Week (February 25, 2011)
Jeff Haden of BNET writes about the importance of business succession planning for the unexpected injury or illness of the business owner. Solutions to some of the more common problems include purchasing life insurance for liquidity purposes, ensuring the second in command has the necessary authority to make important business decisions if the need arises, and having a revocable living trust to ensure the business doesn’t end up subject to probate. See Today’s To-Do List: Create a Succession Plan for the Unexpected (Feb. 24, 2011).
Bernard A. Krooks of Forbes discusses how to plan for digital assets, including online financial accounts, merchant accounts, social networking accounts, and online storage of photos, among other things. Consider naming a “Digital Executor” who is comfortable with technology and inform them of the person or location that has a printout or flash drive containing your key information for accessing digital accounts. See Digital Estates: The New Frontier (Feb. 23, 2011). Friday, November 20, 2009 Press Coverage of Estate Planning This Week (November 20, 2009)Robert Powell of Dow Jones Newswires puts forth rules for properly handling inherited IRAs. Keep a bottle of aspirin available, says Powell, because you are now subject to a set of retirement rules you never knew existed. See The 10 Vital Rules for Inherited IRAs (Nov. 12, 2009).
Kristen McNamara of Dow Jones Newswires writes about the importance of planning ahead regarding online financial accounts, email accounts and the like. Without usernames and passwords, it could take months to access online accounts even if you have a death certificate or a power of attorney. See Don’t Overlook Digital Assets in Plans (Nov. 13, 2009). | |
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Welcome to NorthEast Estates and Trusts, PLLC (NEET). NEET assists clients with Estate Planning, Probate and Estate Administration, Special Needs Planning and Advanced Estate Planning matters in Shelburne, Vermont as well as Charlotte, South Burlington, Burlington), Hinesburg, Essex, Essex Junction, Colchester, Winooski , Cambridge, Huntington, Richmond, Williston, Jericho , Underhill , Underhill Center and Fairfax. NEET also serves clients in Chittenden County, Addison County, Washington County, Lamoille County, Franklin County and Grand Isle County.
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