FAQs
You Ask, We Answer
If you die without a will, your property will be distributed by the state. The laws governing this process differ from state to state.
A living trust is an estate planning tool that allows you to control your assets while you are still alive. A living trust takes effect immediately after it is established, whereas a will takes effect after the creator's death.
A Last Will can also be called a testament. It is the document written by a testator that specifies what happens to the testator's property after death.
A Living Will is a written statement that details a person's wishes regarding medical treatment when they are no longer able to express informed consent.
There are three kinds of taxes: Income, Capital Gain and Estate. First, there’s very little we can do to reduce income taxes. However, Living Trusts are generally ‘income tax neutral’ and will neither reduce nor increase the income tax you owe. Capital gains taxes may be minimized or eliminated in Community Property states, thanks to the ‘step up in cost basis’ afforded to Community Property. Finally, estates larger than $11.58 million per person are generally subject to the Federal Estate Tax. Spouses may combine their individual estate tax exemptions to shelter up to $23.16 million from ‘death taxes’.
NO! Any competent, appropriately licensed professional can prepare binding legal documents, whether a Lawyer or a Certified Legal Document Preparer (CLDP). Simply being a Lawyer does not guarantee competence in the area of Estate Planning.
Certain administrative requirements must be met in order for an LLC or a Corporation to protect its owner(s) in the event of a lawsuit or IRS audit. Operating Agreements and Bylaws spell out operational duties and requirements, and Meeting Minutes constitute ‘written permission’ for managers and officers to take proscribed actions. Failure to maintain adequate Company Records can lead to ‘piercing the veil’, thus making owners and shareholders personally responsible.
Company Records should be amended in a variety of circumstances, including: 1) Change of ownership, whether by sale, acquisition, death or some other qualifying event; 2) Meeting Minutes kept at least annually, if not more frequently; and 3) a change in the Law. Arizona recently adopted the Arizona Limited Liability Company Act (“ALLCA”) which requires that ALL Arizona multi-member LLC Operating Agreements be modified to comply with the Act’s new provisions, no later than January 1, 2021.