Phoenix couple with children from a prior marriage died without wills or a trust and left assets in their individual names as tenants in common. DeAngelis Legal opened informal probates for each spouse’s intestate (without a will) estate. The probates allowed the appointed personal representative with the power to take control over the property and [...]
Scottsdale couple was unsatisfied with the estate plan recently drafted by another firm and had a gut instinct that something wasn’t right. DeAngelis Legal reviewed the plan and the couple’s intentions and made significant recommendations to minimize income tax liabilities, increase flexibility and facilitate administration upon a death of each spouse. DeAngelis Legal has dealt [...]
Eventually, everyone needs help. It is common for an elderly parent to request that an adult child or other third party sit in on the estate planning meeting and be included in the correspondence as a matter of convenience. In the past, we would meet privately with the parent to identify any indicia of undue [...]
Unmarried Scottsdale couple desired to purchase a personal residence together, but wanted their respective families to receive the financial benefit from the investment upon their death. DeAngelis Legal worked with the client to create a tenants in common agreement, which addressed who would be responsible for managing the property, how expenses related to the property [...]
Estate Planning Update July 2026 2026 Annual Gift Tax Exclusion: remains $19,000 per donor, per donee. 2026 Gift and Estate Tax Exemption: increased to $15,000,000 per person this year (an increase of $110,000 per individual or $220,000 for a married couple) and made permanent. Marital Deduction for Transfers to U.S. Spouse: remains unlimited. 2026 Generation [...]
High net worth Scottsdale couple sought assistance with creating a structure and strategy to make lifetime gifts to their children. DeAngelis Legal advised the clients on the varying interests of their children in the family business and income and estate tax issues. We also worked with the client’s bookkeeper, accountant and banker to design, draft [...]
Long time high net worth Arizona based client desired to make large lifetime gifts to his children. DeAngelis Legal advised the client regarding funding, control and use of the gifts to take advantage of the new 2026 estate tax exemptions, protect the assets from the children’s creditors and control the disposition of the funds. We worked [...]
Mom died leaving various real estate investments to her children in trust. The children were also named as co-trustees. Unfortunately, mom made pre-death transfers to some of the children. The co-trustees engaged DeAngelis Legal to assist them to sort out the issues with these transfers. The issues addressed included: (1) determining if the pre-death transfers [...]
DeAngelis Legal performed a five-year review of a current high net worth Scottsdale couple’s estate plan in connection with the 2025 estate tax changes. After the review, the couple identified several areas that they desired to change, including the distribution scheme and lifetime gifting. DeAngelis Legal prepared the updated estate plan documents and implemented the [...]
Widower in Phoenix died leaving three children as beneficiaries. Unfortunately, the widower made commitments benefiting one child over the others but failed to properly document the commitments. The trustee engaged DeAngelis Legal to assist him with the administration and resolve the conflicting interests of the siblings. In a refreshing result, the siblings were able to [...]
