October, 2012 | The Beliveau Law Group - Attorneys at Law

October 18, 2012: Estate Planning & Medicaid Planning Seminar

Please join Attorney David M. Beliveau, featured speaker, on October 18, 2012, for a free estate planning and Medicaid planning seminar on important changes to Massachusetts probate law, Medicaid, and the estate tax system. Attendees will receive 4 CPE credits. THE SETATE PLANNING, MEDICAID 7 TAX LAW LANDSCAPE CONTINUES TO CHANGE PRESENTER: David M. Beliveau, Esq. DATE: October 18, 2012 LOCATION: Hilton Garden Inn, Waltham MA SCHEDULE: 9:00 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. DESCRIPTION: This seminar will

Make sure you can access your power of attorney documents

It’s important to have access to the originals of your power of attorney documents, because a photocopy sometimes won’t be accepted. Sometimes an attorney keeps the originals, and sometimes the client keeps them. Both are good ideas. But either way, make sure you can access them when you need them. If you keep them yourself, put them in a safe place. And if your attorney keeps them, be sure you leave enough time to obtain them

Deceased man’s sister is sued for interfering with inheritance

When Marc MacGinnis was in the hospital awaiting surgery, he asked his friend Brent to prepare a will for him that would leave half of his estate to Brent and half to Marc’s sister, Susan. Brent downloaded some will forms from the Internet, but Susan then suggested that she contact a lawyer to set up a trust instead. She said this would be better because it would avoid probate. Susan never talked to a lawyer, and

Should a will include children conceived after a parent’s death?

What’s the legal status of a child who was conceived after a parent’s death? That question would have been ridiculous not many years ago, but with advances in fertility treatments and the ability to freeze embryos and store sperm for later use, a number of children are now being conceived after one biological parent has passed away. This has created a number of legal issues. For instance, the Supreme Court recently decided whether twins who were

Prepare now – new 3.8% tax on investment income takes effect in 2013

A new 3.8% tax on investment income will take effect in 2013, and anyone who has significant investments or who manages a trust should be planning for it now. The tax was included in President Obama’s health care law. In the past, many people didn’t plan for the tax because they thought the law might be struck down by the Supreme Court. But now that the Supreme Court has upheld the law, the tax will take

Huge tax-saving opportunity available only until December 31

An enormous opportunity for families to reduce their estate taxes – and in some cases, save millions of dollars – will end on December 31, 2012. If there’s a chance you can take advantage of these savings, it’s wise to act immediately, because unless Congress changes the law, the window of opportunity will close permanently when the ball drops on New Year’s Eve. Between now and the end of the year, the lifetime exemption from the

S Corporation owners should take steps to avoid paying themselves unreasonably low salaries, especially when issuing dividends.

The Supreme Court has declined to review a decision of the Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit, which held that an S corporation paying unreasonably low salary was liable for employment taxes on dividends reclassified as salary. Specifically, the Eighth Circuit, affirming the district court, found that the shareholder-employee’s $24,000 salary in 2002 and 2003 was unreasonably low and allowed IRS to reclassify as salary over $67,000 in dividend payments to the officer during each

Pros and cons of dollar cost averaging

Experienced investors don’t need to be convinced about the inherent volatility of the stock market. Prices seem to soar and plummet regularly. One possible investment strategy for smoothing out the inevitable ups and downs is called “dollar cost averaging.” But this long-standing investment method has as many detractors as proponents. The basic concept is relatively simple. Essentially, you invest a fixed amount of money in shares of the same stock at regular intervals – usually, on

The annual gift tax exclusion – use it or lose it!

Did you know that this year you can give gifts of up to $13,000 to as many individuals as you want without being liable for gift tax? Normally, any gift you make counts towards your lifetime exemption from gift and estate taxes. That’s so you don’t just give away your estate shortly before death to avoid estate taxes. But each year you can make an unlimited number of gifts free of tax, provided they’re below a

“Bunching” deductions could cut your taxes

Getting the most benefit from tax deductions requires multi-year planning as well as consideration of the alternative minimum tax (AMT). The multi-year part involves “bunching” your expenses. That’s a strategy where you decide to accelerate or delay payments between different years for itemized deductions such as state income taxes, routine health care, and charitable contributions. You calculate the tax savings for each year and choose the most advantageous time to pay the expense and claim the

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Beliveau Law Group

October 2012