What to Think About Before Meeting With an Estate Planning Lawyer
I am happy to announce that we have finally finished creating a series of short videos regarding the estate planning and estate administration process. Here is our third video in which Kevin A. Pollock, Esq., LLM is being interviewed by Pierson W. Backes, Esq., the head of our estate litigation department, regarding the things a […]
Terry Pratchett’s Executor Destroys Unpublished Work of Author
As a fan of the works of Author Terry Pratchett, in particular Going Postal and Making Money, I got a chuckle out of this story in the New York Times. As some of you are aware, Terry Pratchett died in 2015. One of his last wishes was that all of his unpublished works be destroyed by […]
Requirement of Executors to Report Basis of Assets When Administering an Estate – FollowUp
The IRS has released new regulations that have extended the due date for filing Form 8971 to March 31, 2016. Executors and administrators of estates that are required to file a federal Form 706 Estate Tax Return are now also required to file Form 8971 and report the basis of the assets included in the […]
IRS Releases Form 8971 – Executors Now Required to Report Basis of Assets When Administering Estate
For many years the IRS and beneficiaries of estates had a problem figuring out how much gain should be imposed on an inherited asset because the beneficiaries did not know the basis. The IRS did not like the fact that frequently the value reported by an Executor was not the value reported by a beneficiary […]
Update to Executor’s Commissions in NJ
Back in March of 2014, I wrote a lengthy post about how to Calculate an Executor’s Commissions in New Jersey. Frankly, most of the executors I work with don’t want a commission. However, I recently came across an interesting situation where an executor wanted a commission and the decedent had substantial joint survivorship accounts with […]
Executor Commissions: Calculating in New Jersey
From time to time, people ask me about trustee and executor commissions in New Jersey. Because it is a bit complex, I have broken it down into two posts and I will focus on administrator and executor commissions today. To start, a Will can specifically provide for an executor’s commission. In that absence of expressly authorizing a […]
Choosing an Executor, Trustee and Guardian
Clients frequently ask me for advice on who they should name as Executor, Trustee or Guardian when creating their Last Will and Testament. First, let me explain the difference between the three roles. The Executor The Executor is the person who probates your Will, goes into your house and looks through all your things, safeguards […]
Copyrights after Death of Author
If you are a writer, artist, musician, photographer or other professional who has created a copyrightable work, you should realize that you are creating an asset that should be carefully managed after you pass away. The first thing that you should know is that if you have created a work after January 1, 1978, the copyright will generally last […]
Right to Reclaim a Copyright
Very few people are aware that we are entering a unique period of time for musicians, artists, writers and their heirs. In 1976, the U.S. Copyright Act was amended to allow the creator of a copyright to reclaim the rights to a work that was assigned. Congress recognized that many new musicians, authors and artists were being taken advantage […]