Category Archives: Uncategorized

Final Beneficiary Designation

Just Who is the Beneficiary? Determining the beneficiary of a retirement account or life insurance policy of a deceased person can be challenging, but it’s easier than you think. To prevent any confusion, it’s crucial you know about what benefits get passed on and to whom.  There continues to be perplexity about these matters for…

Income Tax Concerns with Receipt of Stock Grants

I have a client that wants to grant stock to his employees in order to “incentivize” them to work harder for the company.  However, there are particular tax issues that not only the employer but the employee need to be aware of when they receive their stock grant.  The following article addresses those concerns. Contractors,…

Asset Protection of Intellectual Property

I’m pretty sure everyone has ideas – What should I do today? What’s for dinner tonight? What’s the best way to get to work this morning? For everyone, there’s a “laundry list” of ideas every day. But are those ideas “assets”? Thomas Edison invented the lightbulb. Alexander Graham Bell invented the telephone Henry Ford invented…

Estate Planning during Divorce

Estate plans prepared for married couples will vary in complexity and detail but generally follow the same theme: The revocable trust or will typically provides that upon the death of the first spouse, the surviving spouse will not only serve as trustee and executor, but will also receive most if not all of the deceased…

Bitcoin and What it Means for You (Tax-Wise)

  Yes, “Bitcoin” is booming, but most people don’t understand what it really is. Basically, Bitcoin is a type of “virtual currency” and is one of the most popular of its kind. While it is still gaining acceptance among the general population, virtual currency like bitcoin can be used to buy goods from many different…

One Time is Not Enough: Why You Need to Update Your Estate Plan

Many people sign a will and assume they never need to look at it again. As lawyers, we prepare wills that are flexible and deal with multiple possible (even if unlikely) scenarios, but sometimes an unanticipated change and an outdated will conspire to cause great difficulties for surviving family members. What follows is a perfect example…

Keeping it in the Family- Considerations for Business Succession

When I was practicing in Oregon way back when – it seems like a lifetime ago – I worked with a successful farming operation that started in the 1950’s.  When I first got involved, the founder (we’ll call him “Dad”) was pushing 80, and he was divesting himself of his interests in the farms to…

Choose your Partners (Hip Representative) Carefully- The Impact of the New Partnership Audit Rules

In 2015, Congress in its infinite wisdom changed the rules on how audits of partnerships (and multi-member LLCs) were to be conducted beginning on January 1, 2018.  Before the change, a tax matters partner (or member) handled an audit of partnership tax returns, but the tax matters partner couldn’t do a whole lot except for…

Will Trust still be Needed if the Estate Tax is Repealed?

One of the pillars of President Trump’s presidential campaign was the repeal of the federal estate tax.  The estate tax is viewed by some as penalizing the wealthy for being successful by subjecting their assets to double-taxation; most likely their wealth was subject to ordinary or capital gain tax during life and now it is…

The Importance of Buy-Sell Agreements for Closely-Held Businesses

When people first open their own business, they envision that it will be successful and meet the needs of their customers, clients, themselves and their families.  If the company truly thrives, the founder(s) may want to expand ownership in their business to people that they trust or maybe even family members.  If so, the owners…