I know, tax stuff is boring, unless you are having to pay taxes you shouldn’t. So, today, I’m going to address a great tax benefit of property passing through estates, and why you don’t want to lose that benefit. We are going to talk about the “step up basis” rules. A taxpayer's basis is usually [...]
Regardless of whether you use Revocable Living Trusts, Wills, and Powers of Attorney to accomplish your estate planning, a key decision is who to trust to make your financial and medical decisions. The person who makes your medical decisions is your medical power of attorney. The person who makes your financial decisions is either your [...]
Dual income couples often keep their finances separate. Separate bank accounts, separate investment accounts, separately titled cars, and almost anything else other than the homestead. Are these separately-titled properties separate property of the respective spouses? The hallmark rule of community property is that the character of the property (whether it is community or separate) is [...]
Would you self-diagnose your own medical problem? Sometimes as a self-help form of estate planning, family members will deed their property to their family, sometimes as a right of survivorship deed, an enhanced life estate deed (a ladybird deed), or an outright transfer. The form of a deed is fairly standard in Texas, so do [...]
Congress has actually passed an infrastructure Act -- The Infrastructure and Investment and Jobs Act “IIJA” and is working on a second spending bill titled the Build Back Better Act (“BBBA”), passed by the House and pending in the Senate. It is hard to tell whose goose is getting fat and whose turkey is getting [...]
Britney Spears, as almost everyone knows, had been under “conservatorship” in California. What does that mean? Do not try to make me understand California “law”, but if Britney was a Texan, we wouldn’t call it conservatorship. We would call it guardianship, and Ms. Spears would likely never have had a guardian for her as an [...]
House and Senate Democrats are working with the Biden administration to pass legislation to fund their infrastructure initiatives, including wide-ranging social programs, and tax legislation to pay for those programs, at least in part. The House Ways and Means Committee released their tax proposals on September 13 and they have wide-ranging effects on high income [...]
In Texas, guardianship is the legal process where one person is granted legal control over another person's affairs. There are broadly two types of guardianships: guardianship of the person and guardianship of the estate. A guardianship of the person is to be granted control over the decision-making authority of another, usually to make medical, residential, [...]
Congress has passed an infrastructure spending bill and is considering a much larger package proposed by President Biden, and with new spending comes potential new tax legislation to pay for it. Has the bill that has passed and the proposals on the table impacted estate tax planning? The simple answer is "not so far." The [...]
If you own property, your estate will be better handled if you have a Will. However, if a loved one has died without a Will, you need to know your best options. For most estates, the best answer is opening an administration and a formal declaration of heirship. Although more expensive than probating a Will, [...]