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Beware of Trust Salesmen (November 2010)

BEWARE OF TRUST SALESMEN We were recently warned about a trust salesman committing fraud by saying that if you sign up with him, you would get a discount in legal fees from Okura & Associates.  We don’t even know this person, and have reported him to the police....

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...

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...