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...
by Sanford Okura | Aug 19, 2011 | Powers of Attorney and Health Care Directives
ADVANCE HEALTH-CARE DIRECTIVES (PART 2) In last month’s column I explained that Advance Health-Care Directives have two parts. One part is a “Durable Power of Attorney for Health Care Decisions.” It lets you name the person who will make medical decisions for you if...
by Sanford Okura | Jun 22, 2011 | Articles
THE REVOCABLE LIVING TRUST TRAP Here is a Medicaid rule that often surprises those in nursing homes: if your home property is in a Revocable Living Trust, you cannot qualify for Medicaid for nursing home costs until you take your home out of the trust. However,...
by Sanford Okura | May 22, 2011 | Articles, Asset Protection
ASSET PROTECTION FOR YOUR FAMILY Your will or trust probably says that you give your assets to your children when you die. (Whenever I mention “children,” I also mean nieces and nephews, brothers and sisters, or anyone else who will be inheriting...
by Sanford Okura | Apr 29, 2011 | Articles
2011 ESTATE PLANNING UPDATE By Sanford K. Okura Here is a 2011 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...
by Sanford Okura | Apr 1, 2011 | Estate Taxes and Gift Taxes
Hawaii State Death Tax Calculation Chart Step 1: Determine Taxable Estate (from federal form 706, Part 2, Line 3) (However, use $3.5M as exemption)* Step 2: Determine Adjusted Taxable Estate (Subtract $60,000 from Taxable Estate in Step 1) Step 3: Find Adjusted...
by Sanford Okura | Mar 18, 2011 | Articles
On February 23, 2011, Governor Abercrombie signed into law Senate Bill 232, which makes civil unions legal in Hawaii, starting January 1, 2012. Although the law says that a civil union is not a marriage, it gives partners in a civil union the same legal rights and...
by Sanford Okura | Feb 28, 2011 | Estate Taxes and Gift Taxes
The new tax law gives us a wonderful opportunity to protect assets from nursing home costs and also from taxes. It makes temporary changes to the federal tax laws. It allows you to give away during your lifetime up to $5 million of assets without any gift...
by michelle | Jan 21, 2011 | Estate Taxes and Gift Taxes
Happy New Year, everyone! We have some exciting new tax laws. On December 17, 2010, President Obama signed into law the 2010 Tax Relief Act. I will explain the most important changes in estate and gift taxes. Temporary Law. Important parts of the new law are only...
