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 One of his last wishes was that all of his unpublished works be destroyed by […]
As I know many of you have been waiting anxiously, I wanted to make sure that you are aware that the New Jersey Division of Taxation has finally released the 2017 Estate Tax Return form. They have also released an estate tax calculator so that we can accurately prepare the return. The NJ 2017 Estate Tax […]
Best place to die Several years ago, I wrote a few articles comparing the tax consequences of dying in New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania and Florida. Now that New Jersey has amended its estate tax laws, I thought I should write another post for 2017 regarding the best place to die. I will write this […]
As many of you know, New Jersey recently revised its estate tax law. Effective January 1, 2017, people who die in the year 2017 will have a New Jersey estate tax exemption of $2,000,000. Since the law was enacted towards the end of 2016, the division of tax needs some time to prepare a […]
I was talking to another estate planning recently and discussing how much of our work involves assisting clients who have blended families. Blended families generally refers to clients who are married but at least one of the spouses has a child from a previous relationship. In comparing stories and ways that we can assist clients, […]
In most states, when a person is named as an executor in the Will, the executor has an affirmative duty to defend the Will from Will contests. For example, if mom dies testate leaving her entire estate to child one, cutting out child number two, and child number two sues to say the Will is […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]