It’s tax time again. Last year in 2011 you sold dad’s house, which you received after dad died in 2010. Dad originally paid $5,000 for the property in the 1950s, but you sold it for $125,000, for a gain of …
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Online Life Continues Long After Death
If you were to die tomorrow, do you know what would happen to your online accounts? Like many other areas of the law the answer is, it depends. It depends on whether your survivors have user names, passwords or legal …
Self-Funding Trusts Can Be Dangerous
You had been meaning to get your estate plan done for years. You finally get up the nerve to call your lawyer’s office to have it drawn up. You walked out of the office with an estate plan in which …
Medicaid Eligibility-Top 8 Mistakes
You or a loved one is in the nursing home. You have been told that you have to spend down all of your assets to $2,000 before you can apply for Medicaid to pay for the nursing home care. The …
I’m A Trustee What Do I Do Now
You may have been named as successor trustee of Mom or Dad’s trust. Do you really know what that entails? Do you know what your obligations are? As a successor trustee, your primary duty is to preserve and protect the …
Your Pet’s Life Without You
You have a pet. Fifi your French poodle or Puff your cat has become part of your family. You couldn’t imagine what it would be like not having your pet. But, have you ever thought about what Fifi or Puff’s …
Newlyweds Need Planning Too
You are about to get married or have just been married. Would you like your fiancé or new spouse to be able to make decisions for you if you became mentally incapacitated as a result of an accident or injury? …
Buyer Beware When Purchasing Vacation Jewelry
You and your spouse go on a cruise for your honeymoon or major anniversary. It is a wonderful trip through the Caribbean. At one of your ports-of-call, you have a few hours for a land excursion. You decide to go …
February Federal Estate Tax is a Voluntary Tax
You probably have not heard a lot of talk about the Federal estate tax lately. The most likely reason is that in our current estate tax system, your estate will only be subject to Federal estate tax if your taxable …
Unclaimed Property in Michigan
Have you ever received notice from your bank saying you haven’t had a deposit or a withdrawal out of that account in a number of years and if you do not do a transaction soon, they will consider that a …