Category: Blog

Estate planning is necessary for anyone who has property or assets they want to hand down later, as well as helpful for establishing health care directives, any necessary trusts, and more. This is important no matter what your sexual orientation is, and like most, you may find that you are having trouble initiating the process due to numerous concerns. Perhaps you don’t feel like you have enough money to necessitate an estate plan, or maybe the whole process just seems too intimidating to deal with. You may have little spare time due to a busy schedule, and just keep putting… Read More

As we age or become ill, the term ‘having your affairs in order’ is often used. This means covering numerous facets for after-death planning, to include your property. With comprehensive estate planning, you can control what happens to your assets after you die, along with setting any restrictions if you are leaving an inheritance to younger family members, or perhaps those you worry might be careless with money and property. And you certainly do not need to wait until you are on your deathbed to do so. Estate planning should begin as early as possible, and depending on your situation… Read More

No matter how old you are, it can be challenging to consider mortality, and the fact that we will be leaving everything behind one day with our heirs receiving property inheritances. You may feel difficulty in moving forward in creating a will because of that anxiety, or like so many of us you may just feel too constricted by a busy schedule to take time out to make an appointment; however, with the help of a skilled estate planning attorney, you should find the process seamless—and invaluable for the future of your family. Without a will in Georgia, you are… Read More

When considering estate planning trusts, you should never assume this is something only for the wealthy; after all, everyone has an estate of some size and it should be duly protected upon your death. A trust is usually created for those who have some assets to be handed down, and all to be protected whether in a living trust or one created for after death. Whether you are wealthy or not, a trust is also important for managing your finances in the case that you may become incapacitated, as well as establishing guidelines for those beneficiaries who may not be… Read More

It may be hard for you today to imagine needing something like an advance directive for health care, especially if you are currently in good health and in firm control of your life and all decision-making processes. It can be somewhat painful to consider the realities of growing older, but estate planning allows you to look ahead selflessly and provide a way for everybody to know what to do later if you cannot make decisions on your own. And while you may feel like you have plenty of time to plan right now, consider what would happen if you were… Read More

Being organized each day is a great feeling—and one many of us continue to seek—as we strive to work better, relax more fully, and enjoy life. That can be taken to another (and very necessary) level with estate planning also, as you assess the present and strategize for the future. In creating an airtight estate plan, you can take all the necessary steps to assure your family and yourself that the nightmare of probate will be avoided. Along with that, you will be protecting your assets and your beneficiaries. While planning your estate is probably very important to you, it… Read More

“Friends,” Tennessee Williams famously noted, “are God’s way of apologizing to us for our families.” We’ve all got that cranky uncle. In fact, our stories are so similar–the leather recliner, the favored drink, the phlegmatic jeremiads about “these kids today”–it sometimes feels as if we all share the same one. But for an increasing number LGBTQ families planning their estates, the cranky uncle has become something of a problem: What do we do about those survivors whose sense of “family values” mean they don’t value our families? Without careful planning, your assets could well fall into the hands of people… Read More

Love won–but the law still lags behind, and it presents a unique set of challenges to those gay couples who’ve decided to end their marriages. Divorce is hard enough for anyone to consider, but the plain fact is that anyone who has gone through a divorce really must give some thought to their estate planning. This is more true, not less, for LGBTQ families, because Georgia law still hasn’t quite settled for non-traditional families. Just last year, the state legislature approved a bill that would have allowed some companies to “opt out” of serving LGBTQ families on religious grounds. The… Read More

Farmers know their profession entails a lot more than making a living; it's also about passing on a way of life; a family legacy, if you will.    Unfortunately, too often farmers fail to keep their estate plan up to date, and in doing so they place their legacy at serious risk. An outdated or inadequate estate plan can sometimes put their property, which is often the key to their legacy, up for sale, resulting many times in the property being converted to a non-agricultural use, effectively cutting your family's legacy off at the knees. If you're lucky, your heirs may… Read More

According to a recent case in U.S. Tax Court, there is nothing wrong with using what are referred to as Crummey trusts as part of their estate plan, no matter what the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) says. See, a Crummey trust is a device used to huge tax-free transfers of large sums of money (In this case, as much as $1.6 million) without it affecting lifetime gift-tax exemptions. They were named Crummey because that was the name of the Methodist minister who was the plaintiff in the 1968 case that established them. In the recent case, Mikel v. Commissioner, the… Read More