Lessons Learned: Frank Gifford’s Estate Planning

Dear Clients, Colleagues, and Friends, So your estate planning is in order. You have a will; every loved one is accounted for; and your estate will be passed on in accordance with your wishes. Or will it? The great Frank Gifford died on August 9, 2015. He was 84 years old. He was a football player for the New York Giants, and then a television sports announcer and commentator. He […]

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Controlling Your Facebook Digital Legacy

Dear Clients, Colleagues, and Friends, Twelve years ago, Ellen’s mother passed away after 96 wonderful years of life. She was not the wealthiest of persons, but her life was rich with memories of her children growing up, watching them raise their children, and even getting to know her great-grandchildren. This could not have been more evident than when Ellen went to her mother’s fourth floor New York walk-up to clear […]

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Yes, It Can Happen To You

Dear Clients, Colleagues, and Friends, Legal Malpractice. It lurks in the darkness, waiting to pounce on naïve, unsuspecting lawyers, and yes, even the great ones too. These are two of the most terrifying, haunting words, and in abject terror, we shape our entire professional careers to avoid any situation that could lead us into the deep hole of exposure. We agonize over our daily choices as we feel forced to […]

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Succession Planning Requires Teamwork

Dear Clients, Colleagues, and Friends, “Teamwork makes the dream work, but a vision becomes a nightmare when the leader has a big dream and a bad team.” – American Clergyman, John C. Maxwell Paul can’t believe it’s been forty years since the night he died. The last thing he remembered was blowing out the candles on his 20th birthday cake – then nothing. One minute he was fine, the next […]

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No Good Deed Goes Unpunished

Dear Clients, Colleagues, and Friends, Do you remember when the medical profession used to be about the patient and not the insurance carrier? Dr. Nelson, a surgeon affiliated with Hoag Hospital, remembers it well. Since March of 2010, with the advent of Obamacare, he has seen millions of Americans becoming insured on plans with out-of-network benefits. In addition, narrowing insurance networks meant that many providers were being left completely out of network, so to remain […]

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You’ve Prepared Your Assets for Your Heirs… Have You Prepared Your Heirs for Your Assets?

Dear Clients, Colleagues, and Friends, The Loaded Question “Dad, are we rich?” Ethan’s father drops his fork mid-bite. “That’s an unusual question,” Roger carefully responds. Ethan, who just turned 16 and still fears his father’s disapproval, hesitates before continuing. He knows there is an unspoken rule in his family to never speak about money. Despite his nerves, he plows on, determined to get to the bottom of the wild claims his classmates made. “So, […]

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“Puerto Rico’s Tax Benefits Are Too Good To Be True” – Want to Bet?

Dear Clients, Colleagues, and Friends, It has been a bit over 2 years since my esteemed colleague, Fernando Goyco, and I wrote an article about the Puerto Rico tax law Act 20 & 22 for Steve Leimberg’s Income Tax Planning Letter — (Steve Leimberg’s Income Tax Planning Email Newsletter – Archive Message #44 Date: 23-Apr-13 From: Steve Leimberg’s Income Tax Planning Newsletter Subject: Jeffrey M. Verdon & Fernando Goyco-Covas: Consider […]

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Year-End Gift Tax Planning

Dear Clients, Colleagues, and Friends End of year gifting by check is always an issue for those trying to use their annual exclusion amounts, but in 2012 the issue also relates to those attempting to make larger gifts to use their available $5.12M unified credit amount before the scheduled reduction of the unified credit in 2013. The last thing a donor wants to see happen is that a large gift […]

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Year-End Gift Planning for Procrastinators – The Gift-by-Promise Plan Works as Advertised

Dear Clients, Colleagues, and Friends, Following the release of Monday’s Client Alert on “How to Give Away $5.12M in 26 Days” we were contacted by several of our readers who procrastinated and now find themselves wanting to do their year-end gift tax planning prior to December 31. I guess these folks have been in a coma for the past 23 months and just now awakening to find the gift tax […]

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How To Give Away $5 Million In 26 Days

We thought this article from Barron’s presented some interesting options for capturing the gift tax exclusion in the short time remaining: Giving $5 Million in 26 Days “Giving $5 Million in 26 Days” indicates it’s showtime — the last moves to make as the golden age of gift-tax exemptions comes to an end. This article highlights how to give away $5 Million with these last-minute ideas for creating trusts: cash […]

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