Estate and Business Planning Legal Blog

Knowing what to do when a loved one becomes ill can alleviate some of the uncertainty and anxiety that normally follows. Oftentimes, people panic and start making changes to their estate plan without first consulting with an experienced attorney or tax advisor. Family, friends, and others who want to help, tend to give well-meaning advice. They may suggest putting assets into the name of the well spouse alone, transferring assets, and/or adding or changing beneficiaries to accounts.  Following such advice without considering the tax and other consequences can have unintended, adverse consequences.  One should not begin to make changes to bank accounts and other investments unless and until all of the tax implications have been examined.

It is common for businesses, especially those just starting out, to hire consultants on  a part-time basis, to provide a range of needed services.  If properly done, these consultants will be treated as independent contractors, and not employees, thus saving the employer from a host of legal obligations that would otherwise arise if one were to hire and/or treat someone as an employee.

It is important to review all of one’s estate planning documents, from time to time, to see if the contents of the documents still adequately reflect one’s wishes.  At a minimum, your will, health care proxy, living will and durable of power of attorney should be looked at by an experienced attorney, to make sure the documents have been properly prepared and that no revisions are needed due to changes in the law.

It is a well-known fact that nursing care, whether rendered at home or in a nursing facility, is extremely expensive. Even if one possesses substantial assets, those assets will be eroded quickly as a result of spiraling health care costs.  Often, the most significant asset owned by the person needing such care is the family home.  Therefore, it is important to take steps to ensure its protection.

   We all get inundated with paper work, both at the office and at home.  It seems that everywhere we turn we are being asked to sign contracts for things like telephone systems, office equipment, marketing and advertising services, computer services and office space.  The business owner, busy with running the company, is bombarded with so much paper, that it is almost impossible to give contracts more than just a quick glance before signing them.

   Most of the agreements we are asked to sign appear to be standard, boilerplate contracts. Unfortunately, many of them contain clauses designed to trap the unwary.
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Knowing what to do when a loved one dies can alleviate some of the uncertainty and anxiety that normally follows. Of course, funeral arrangements must be made quickly and family members must be notified.  One should order sufficient copies of the death certificate, as there may be a delay in obtaining additional copies later on. Death certificates will be need for each asset owned, as well as for filing(s) with governmental agencies.  If the decedent was collecting social security and/or a retirement pension, the appropriate entities must be notified.
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It is essential that business owners have employees sign non-disclosure and non-compete agreements, in order to protect their intellectual and proprietary information from competitors and others.  The best time to have employees enter into these agreements is when the employee is first hired.

A typical non-disclosure agreement is one where the employee agrees not to release confidential information that has come into his or her hands during employment.  Clearly, a business owner has a keen interest in protecting this information from customers, suppliers, and competitors.  Non-disclosure agreements are also typically used when a business is looking to be sold and is entertaining potential purchasers and even investors.

As of January 1, 2016, the amount of money which you can leave to your family and friends at death-- the “unified credit”-- is $5,450,000 at the federal level. This credit may also be used to make gifts while you are alive.  Most states impose their own estate tax and/or inheritance tax so one needs to research what the applicable state exemption is as well.

Of course, the easiest way to reduce your taxable estate is to make gifts of up to $14,000 per person each year. These annual gifts are tax-free and they do not reduce your unified credit amount.

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IRS Circular 230 disclosure: We inform you that any tax advice contained in this communication is not intended or written to be used, and may not be used by your or anyone else for the purpose of avoiding penalties imposed under the Internal Revenue Code.