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Joint Tenants (October 2010)

To avoid probate, people sometimes put loved ones’ names on property or bank accounts as “joint tenants.”  When one joint tenant dies, his or her share automatically passes to the other joint tenants.  Joint tenancy does avoid...

Funding Your Revocable Living Trust (September 2010)

If you have an existing estate plan, you are probably already familiar with the benefits of creating a Revocable Living Trust.  One of the biggest advantages of a Revocable Living Trust is the ability to avoid probate.  Probate is a court process when a...

Stepped Up Basis In 2010 (August 2010)

In the Estate Planning Insights column for October 2009, I explained the “stepped up basis.”  When a person dies owning property such as real estate or stocks, the fair market value of that property on the date of death will become the new tax basis of that property. ...

Why You Should Convert to a Roth IRA (July 2010)

WHY YOU SHOULD CONVERT TO A ROTH IRA Forget all the articles you have read about whether you should convert to a Roth IRA.  Forget about “Roth IRA Conversion Calculators.”  If you have a substantial amount in a retirement plan that can be converted to a Roth IRA, you...

The New Hawaii Estate Tax (June 2010)

There is now a new Hawaii estate tax.  The bill proposing the tax (House Bill 2866) was vetoed by Governor Lingle on April 25, 2010.  The Hawaii legislature overrode the veto on April 29, 2010, and the bill became Act 74 on April 30, 2010.  It imposes a tax on the...