Recent Blog Posts
Intellectual property requires careful estate planning
If your estate includes forms of intellectual property (IP), such as patents and copyrights, it’s important to know how to address them in your estate plan. Although these intangible assets can have great value, in many ways they’re treated differently from other property types. 2 estate planning questions For estate planning purposes, IP raises… Read More »
Take caution when including employees in your estate plan
If you’re the owner of a small business, you may think of your tight-knit group of employees as a family. If you wish to include them as beneficiaries in your estate plan, it’s critical to be aware of possible unintended tax consequences. Unraveling the (tax) code Generally, money or other property received by gift… Read More »
‘Eldercaring’ program serves the courts and Florida’s aging citizens
Learn about “Eldercaring” in the courts and how it can help Florida’s aging citizens: https://www.floridabar.org/news/tfb-news/?durl=/divcom/jn/jnnews01.nsf/8c9f13012b96736985256aa900624829/d0857dbc17af0f2e8525831d00459620
Creating A Legacy: The Art of Planning
Presented by the Community Foundation of Tampa Bay and the Museum of Fine Arts, St. Petersburg, Bill McQueen joined Emily Benham, Stephen Peters, Beth Knowles, and Beverley McLain on the Expert Panel for “Creating A Legacy: The Art of Planning”.
Turn down an inheritance using a qualified disclaimer
If you are about to receive an inheritance from a family member, you can use a qualified disclaimer to refuse the bequest. The assets will then bypass your estate and go directly to the next beneficiary in line. It’s as if the successor beneficiary, not you, had been named as the beneficiary in the… Read More »
Educate your children on wealth management
If you’ve worked a lifetime to build a large estate, you undoubtedly would like to leave a lasting legacy to your children and future generations. Educating your children about saving, investing and other money management skills can help keep your legacy alive. Teaching techniques There’s no one right way to teach your children about… Read More »
Best Lawyers 2019!
Best Lawyers is the oldest and most respected peer review publication in the legal profession. Recognition in Best Lawyers is widely regarded by both clients and legal professionals as a significant honor, bestowed upon a lawyer by his or her peers. This list is compiled through exhaustive peer review surveys where tens of thousands of leading lawyers confidentially… Read More »
Is a significant portion of your wealth concentrated in a single stock?
Estate planning and investment risk management go hand in hand. After all, an estate plan is effective only if you have some wealth to transfer to the next generation. One of the best ways to reduce your investment risk is to diversify your holdings. But it’s not unusual for affluent people to end up… Read More »
3 reasons you should continue making lifetime gifts
Now that the gift and estate tax exemption has reached a record high of $11.18 million (for 2018), it may seem that gifting assets to loved ones is less important than it was in previous years. However, lifetime gifts continue to provide significant benefits, whether your estate is taxable or not. Let’s examine three reasons… Read More »
At your own risk: The pitfalls of DIY estate planning
There’s no law that says you can’t prepare your own estate plan. And with an abundance of online services that automate the creation of wills and other documents, it’s easy to do. But unless your estate is small and your plan is exceedingly simple, the pitfalls of do-it-yourself (DIY) estate planning can be many…. Read More »