“Penny wise but pound foolish” first appeared in writing over 500 years ago. This idiom captures the wisdom of human experience in just five words: shortcuts that appear to save money are more expensive in the long run. Sometimes much
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Step Transaction Doctrine
By Publisher
People often don’t appreciate the need to fully and properly document intra-family transfers of assets, until it is too late. When documenting a transaction, shortcuts are at the taxpayer’s peril. One taxpayer, after being slapped with a $1.1 million gift…
Trusts and Asset Protection
By Publisher
To repel a beneficiary’s creditors, a trust must contain a spendthrift clause. This special clause generally prohibits a beneficiary from transferring his or her interest in the trust to others. Similarly, a spendthrift clause prevents a beneficiary’s creditors from attaching…
Non-Fungible Tokens and Estate Planning
By Publisher
I am a member of American College of Trust and Estate Counsel (ACTEC) , a national association of estate planning attorneys and law professors who are elected by peers based on reputation, skill, and contributions to the field. ACTEC publishes…
Filing a Caveat Requires Probable Cause
By Publisher
IMO Estate of Annie Rost , 2021 N.J. Super. Unpub. (Docket No A-1807-19) (App. Div. 2021). On appeal from the Superior Court of New Jersey, Chancery Division, Probate Part, Mercer County. Before Judges Sabatino, Currier, and Gooden Brown. One of…
Every Beneficiary is Entitled to an Accounting
By mmacdonald
A beneficiary of an estate or a trust has the right to review the actions of the executor or trustee by asking for an accounting. To be prudent, an executor or trustee should provide the beneficiary with updates on the…
Undue Influence Cases – A Litigator’s Perspective
By mmacdonald
Before one considers filing an undue influence claim seeking to set aside a change in a Will or a recent transfer which reduces his or her share in an estate, there are a number of important factors to consider. In…
Abuse Under a Power of Attorney (A Case Study)
By mmacdonald
The transfer of wealth from the elderly has become the subject of heightened judicial scrutiny over the last several years, and this trend will only grow with the aging of the population. Part of the issues faced by courts surround…