Another irrevocable trust bites the dust. Surviving spouse failed to fund the bypass trust upon her husband’s death. Trustee engaged DeAngelis Legal to negotiate and draft a non-judicial settlement agreement between the trustees and beneficiaries. The agreement provided for a revised allocation of the assets upon the surviving spouse’s death and a release of claims [...]
On January 26, 2020 it was with heavy heart that DeAngelis Legal learned of the passing of longtime client and music legend, Bob Shane of the Kingston Trio. The Trio was the biggest act of the 1950s and two time Grammy Award winners. Bob was the lead vocal on the group’s famous songs “Tom Dooley” [...]
Trust Administration Administrating a trust post-death should be as easy as your successor trustee accepting the responsibility for the trust, taking control of the assets, satisfying creditors and following the trust’s distribution provisions. Unfortunately, we are seeing longer administration times, most of which could have been greatly reduced with minimal upfront planning. Recent examples we [...]
Estate Planning Update January, 2020 2020 Annual Gift Tax Exclusion: remains at $15,000 per donor, per donee. 2020 Gift and Estate Tax Exclusion: increased to $11,580,000 per donor through 2025, see #8. Marital Deduction for Transfers to U.S. Spouse: unlimited. 2020 Generation Skipping Tax Exclusion: increased to $11,580,000 per donor through 2025, see #8. [...]
Assisted personal representative with the administration of an estate and trust. For the past couple of years DeAngelis Legal assisted the personal representative and trustee gather control over the decedent's assets, liquidate them and this December deliver the final checks to several charitable organizations. The administration was complicated by the failure of the decedent to [...]
Represented husband and wife with their estate planning post-divorce. DeAngelis Legal had represented the couple jointly for many years. The couple amicably desired to separate their finances and each engaged DeAngelis Legal to assist them, on an individual basis, with their separate estate plans. DeAngelis Legal assisted each spouse with the creation of a separate [...]
SECURE Act Impact on Trusts While we were focused on the impeachment hearings, Congress and the President were busy passing the SECURE Act. The Act was signed into law on December 20, 2019 and is effective January 1, 2020. In addition to funding federal agencies through September, the SECURE Act impacts trusts by reducing the [...]
Represented several clients with the formal dissolution of their closely held entities. A dentist, an anesthesiologist and a real estate investor all had wound down their operations and chose to formally dissolve their entities with the corporation commission to cut off future creditors. DeAngelis Legal assisted each client with the preparation of a plan of [...]
Legally Changing Your Name in Arizona Tired of being referred to by your given name and not the name you have used for the last 50 years? Frustrated with being pulled out of the TSA line at the airport because your name doesn’t match your ticket? Just want to shorten your legal name (i.e., from [...]
For the third month in a row a private equity group and their national law firm insisted on the transaction being structured as an “F-reorganization” for tax purposes. For a description of this type of transaction see https://www.deangelislegal.com/business-services/mergers-acquisitions/. DeAngelis Legal was brought in after the letter of intent, but assisted the new construction client with [...]
