Our regularly updated blog discusses a variety of issues related to business, tax, and estate planning in California. Learn why an estate plan is necessary regardless of age or income, what steps you can take to reduce your tax liability and protect your assets, how to ensure your business remains on a solid legal foundation, and much more.
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Squeeze More Out of a Company SEPIf you want a retirement plan for your small company or self-employed business -- but you don't want to be buried in paperwork -- consider a simplified employee pension plan or SEP. Among the appealing advantages: 1. SEPs are set up by simply filling out a brief form. 2. Annual...
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Estate Planning: Check Your Beneficiary DesignationsWith today's relatively generous $5.34 million federal estate tax exemption, you may think estate planning is only a concern for the rich. Wrong! Regardless of your income or net worth, there's one estate planning move you should probably make right now: Check the beneficiary designations for your life insurance policies,...
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Selling Your Home? Tax and Other ConsiderationsThe prime residential real estate selling season is in full swing -- and 2014 might be a good time to sell, depending on your situation. So, while prospective sellers are making their properties look like model homes in the hopes of raking in a nice profit, this is a good...
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Do Your Estate Planning So Grieving Relatives Don't Have That BurdenOnly 35 percent of Americans have a will, according to a 2012 survey by FindLaw.com, a legal information Web site. If you die intestate, which is what dying without a valid will is called, your assets could be distributed according to the laws of your state or as the result...
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Will Your Loved Ones Know What to Do When You Are Gone?If you’ve named your children, relatives or friends to be in charge as “Successor Trustee” of your Living Trust when you pass away, they probably have no idea of what to do! After all, they’ve probably never served as a Trustee before! Unfortunately… What your Successor Trustee doesn’t know could...
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Who Will Take the Helm If You Aren't Able to Guide the Ship?Planning ahead in life seems to be difficult at times. But, when it comes to planning for major life and death decisions, it is important to do it now and ask for help from a professional. For many business owners, especially sole proprietors and owners of small businesses, keeping the...
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That's it ...You're Out of the Will!For testators who have been actively involved in the dynamics of their own family for decades, disinheritance might be an easy decision. For estate planners, however, disinheritance is a difficult issue to deal with that must be addressed adequately or can leave an estate plan open to challenge after the...
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Get Your Head Out of the Sand!When Rocket Lawyer asked why so many people do not have wills, here’s what they said: 57% said they “just haven’t gotten around to making one” 22% felt that making a will wasn’t urgent 17% didn’t think they needed a will 14% don’t have a will because they don’t want...
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And Baby Makes ... What? An Insurance AdditionAs you pick out the crib, stroller and tiny clothes, don't forget about health insurance for Junior. Make sure you sign up your infant for coverage within 30 days of birth. A federal rule requires insurance providers to cover children signed up within 30 days of birth retroactively to day...
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What Is One of the Most Common Mistakes in Estate Planning?You may have made a giant estate planning mistake without even knowing it — forgetting to update the names of your beneficiaries for your employer-sponsored retirement plans, IRAs, life insurance policies, mutual funds, bank accounts, brokerage accounts, annuities, and 529 college savings plans. The article titled "Don’t make the No....
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It's That Time of Year ... Graduation!Prepaid college tuition plans are no longer the surefire solution to runaway tuition costs they once seemed. The mostly state-sponsored plans were designed as a way to save for college by locking in at least a portion of future tuition at today's prices. Spring time means graduation. Graduation may mean...
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Come on, Estate Planning Has to Hurt a Little?Nobody wants to contemplate his or her own mortality. And you may even feel that, in the context of death, questions about who gets which of your assets seem trivial. That might explain why numerous recent studies have found that only between 35% and 45% of Americans have a will...