Shareholders in closely-held corporations have won an important estate tax battle with the Internal Revenue Service. The issue is how to place a value on a corporation that has a lot of “built-in” capital gains-meaning that if the company’s assets were liquidated, it would owe a hefty capital gains tax.  In this case, a man named Frazier Jelke owned about 6 percent interest in an investment company.  The company had $188 million worth of assets.  However,

It’s hard to imagine that someone could accidentally disinherit their own children, but it happens all the time to people who don’t regularly update their estate plan. It’s important to update your estate plan with a professional every few years, or whenever there is a significant change in your circumstances or in the tax laws. Below are six ways disinheritance can happen:  1)      Harry wrote a will leaving his house and his business to his children,

When you send your son or daughter off to college, the last thing you’ll probably think of getting for him or her is a will.  But there are a few simple legal documents that any young adult should have.  Getting them takes a short time, and is definitely worth the effort.  One such document is a medical power of attorney.  Once your student is a legal adult, you can no longer automatically make medical decisions for

The latest wrinkle in “identity theft” involves criminals opening accounts in the name of people who are recently deceased.  If a relative has recently died, you might want to take steps to avoid this problem.  For instance, you should immediately notify the Social Security Administration of the death, to prevent someone from using the deceased’s Social Security number.  You should also contact the three leading credit bureaus and report the death.  (Social Security will typically notify

A “power of attorney” is an important part of almost any estate plan.  This document allows someone else to take over your day-to-day financial affairs if you become incapacitated but like any element of an estate plan; a power of attorney needs to be reviewed occasionally to see if it still meets your needs.  If you signed such a document many years ago, it might be a good idea to check whether it needs to be