by Sanford Okura | Jun 15, 2012 | Articles, Powers of Attorney and Health Care Directives
THE DURABLE POWER OF ATTORNEY – PART 2 Not all Powers of Attorney are of equal quality. You need a carefully written Power of Attorney which contains special wording for estate planning situations. A Power of Attorney does not give the...
by Sanford Okura | May 3, 2012 | Articles, Powers of Attorney and Health Care Directives
Every adult should have a Durable Power of Attorney. A “Power of Attorney” is a legal document in which one person gives another person the power to act for him, including the power to sign papers for him. The person who is giving the power is...
by Sanford Okura | Apr 20, 2012 | Articles, Trusts and Wills
UNDERSTANDING REVOCABLE LIVING TRUSTS Trusts began in England in the Middle Ages. The Statute of Uses is a law enacted in 1536 under King Henry VIII. The Statute of Uses is the basis of trust law in England. From England, the concept of trusts came to America...
by Sanford Okura | Mar 29, 2012 | Articles
MAKING IT EASIER FOR YOUR LOVED ONES From time to time, our law firm has a client who passes away with a situation similar to the following actual experience. The wife died. She handled all of the family finances. She was the family record keeper. When she died,...
by Sanford Okura | Feb 22, 2012 | Articles
WHO INHERITS WHEN SOMEONE DIES? When someone dies without a will, we say that the person died “intestate.” The law of intestacy explains who will inherit the property of a person who dies without a will. Each state has its own law of intestacy. I will...
by Sanford Okura | Jan 20, 2012 | Articles, Estate Taxes and Gift Taxes, Medicaid and Nursing Home Costs
Here is a 2012 update on important numbers used in Estate Planning and Medicaid Planning in Hawaii. How much money and property can a person have at death without paying estate taxes? Under a temporary federal law, $5,000,000 is tax free this year. From January 1,...
by Sanford Okura | Dec 19, 2011 | Articles
REVERSE MORTGAGE People often ask me for advice about reverse mortgages. They hear that with a reverse mortgage the bank pays you instead of your paying the bank, and that sounds good to them. Here is the advice I give them: if you want your children or other loved...
by Sanford Okura | Oct 31, 2011 | Articles
NEW LAW: TRANSFER ON DEATH DEED Hawaii has a new law which allows real estate to go to a beneficiary when the owner dies, without having to go to court for probate. This new procedure requires a new kind of deed, called a “Transfer on Death Deed.” Governor...
by Sanford Okura | Sep 16, 2011 | Asset Protection, Trusts and Wills
HAWAII ASSET PROTECTION TRUST By Sanford K. Okura On July 1, 2011, the Hawai‘i Permitted Transfers in Trusts Act was amended. This is an important change in the law because you can now transfer assets to a trust and receive money from the trust and yet have...
