What is Estate Planning?

Estate planning is the process of preparing your assets for your death or incapacity. It can also include planning for taxes and creditors. Your estate is simply anything that you own. An estate planning attorney prepares living trusts, living wills, powers of attorney, wills, advance directives, post-nuptial agreements, health care powers of attorney, and the Nevada Asset Protection Trust. Why ...

Out-of-State Trusts Need Updated

Many folks have Living Trusts that were formed in California or another state before moving to Nevada.  These trust documents should be updated to avoid what is known as "conflicts of laws".  A Living Trust attorney forms trusts to avoid probate, but when a Living Trust is formed in another state, you are much more likely to need a court order ...

What is Wrong with Estate Planning?

Estate planning is the process of preparing your assets for death and possible incapacity. It also includes planning for estate taxes. The primary tool used for estate planning is the revocable living trust. This is supplemented with a will, financial powers of attorney, and health care directives. While these documents are important, document preparation firms have turned the documents into ...

5 Problems with a Living Trust

Living Trust are great tools that are used by many Americans to solve a range of problems from probate, guardianship, divorce, lawsuits and gold diggers. Yet, a Las Vegas Living Trust attorney may not tell you that many Living Trusts may cause more expense and headaches than probate if they are not used properly. Problem 1: Wrong State Forum When ...

Inherited IRAs Are Naked

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that children with inherited IRAs from their parents will not be able to keep the IRA in bankruptcy.  What does that mean for your children?  If your child has either a bankruptcy, lawsuit, divorce or IRS problems then those creditors can take all or a part of the IRA your child inherited from you. The solution is simple: the ...

Married? Your Trust is Probably Too Complicated!

Many married folks with a Revocable Living Trust (“RLT”) have a complicated planning tool commonly referred to as the (“A/B Trust”). In 2001, an estate paid a 55% estate tax on any assets valued at more than $675,000 (“the exemption”). Married couples were not guaranteed to each get the $675,000 exemption so they often created the A/B Trust to double ...

Humans Should Never Own Real Estate

I've been teaching attorneys, CPAs and Realtors for the past 12 years that title to real estate should never be owned by individuals.  Why? When an individual owns real estate the Probate Court must determine who will become the beneficiary when the individual dies.  This probate cost is approximately 5% of the fair market value of the real estate. If the ...

Yellow Dot Program

Nevada introduced a life-saving program that alerts “first responders” at a car accident scene that an occupant of the vehicle has special medical issues. This information is critical in the “golden hour” following an accident. Emergency workers can now increase the chance of survival for a victim who may be incapacitated. A yellow dot decal is placed on the rear ...

Why Everyone Should Have A Will

In our first episode of Family Stuff You Should Know, Gary and Christine Fales discuss why everyone should have a will.  If you have children under 18, the will can name permanent guardians for your minor children.  We discuss probate, heirs and why this should be a document every parent creates.