Beneficiary designations on pay-on-death accounts – life insurance, 401(k) or Roth retirement funds and saving/checking accounts – are too often ignored.Upon purchasing a life insurance policy or setting up a Roth, your loved one probably listed a...
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Estate Administration & Probate
Two years later still interpreting Prince’s wishes
Hard to believe as it is, the artist passed away two years ago in April 2016. In the meantime, his home at Paisley Park has been turned into a public museum. And his $100 to $300 million-dollar estate is still being fought over by a sibling and half-siblings.In his...
Business succession considerations for Colorado business owners
At our law firm, we provide estate planning and asset protection advice to clients in a wide variety of personal and business circumstances. When a client is a business owner, establishing a carefully thought out business succession plan is a key part of the process....
Part I: Was a pay-on-death decision a mistake?
A recent Colorado Court of Appeals illustrates what can go wrong following the death of a loved one. From determining whether what a parent did was a mistake or part of a plan to flawed attempts to avoid litigation, the case raises issues about pay-on-death...
Do you have to pay off parents’ credit card debt after death?
Regardless of what a collector claims on the phone, you are not legally responsible to pay a credit card bill in most cases. A collections agent may cite “moral obligation” to exploit your desire to do the right thing, but you cannot let a debt collector...
Why the terms beneficiary and heir are not interchangeable
It is possible to be a beneficiary of a will, but not an heir. Yet heirs are not always beneficiaries. You do not have to leave your assets to your spouse, child or sibling (your technical ‘heirs’). You may want to set aside funds in a pet trust for your...
Learn from Gawande: Hope is not a plan
Atul Gawande’s book Being Mortal has made many waves across the medical profession and has important implications for estate planning. Gawande is a practicing surgeon and acclaimed writer who audaciously tackled the immense issue of how the healthcare system has...
How to deal with creditors in probate
Many creditors take an aggressive approach after the death of a loved one. As a personal representative, be cautious. Depleting an estate’s cash to pay these “squeaky wheels” can cause trouble down the road.Because you may only administer an estate...
How tax reforms and regulation changes could affect estates
Colorado does not have a state estate or inheritance tax. On the federal level, however, the estate tax is 40 percent. It only kicks in for large estates with a gross value of more than $5.49 million.An analysis by the Tax Policy Center found that about 11,310 estates...
The importance of correct beneficiary designations
Retirement accounts, life insurance and annuities are probably not controlled by provisions in your will. Why is this? These types of accounts and any other designated “payable on death” or “transfer on death” automatically pass to a named...