Posted by Matt Perkins | Feb 07, 2022 |
Estate planning is about more than preparing for the inevitable. A good estate plan should also consider the unexpected. Your plan may have detailed instructions for what happens when you are no longer around, but what if something goes wrong while you are alive?
If you can no longer manage your...
Posted by Matt Perkins | Jan 31, 2022 |
When using trusts in estate planning, a key element includes transferring the trustmaker's real estate into the trust by recording a deed with the local recording authority. This step is crucial for ensuring that the trustee has the authority to manage and ultimately sell or transfer the property...
Posted by Matt Perkins | Nov 29, 2021 |
It is a new era for college student athletes, who can now (as of July 1, 2021) profit from their name, image, and likeness (NIL).
A change to the long-standing National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) policy that prohibited athletes from making money has abruptly—and dramatically—altered ...
Posted by Matt Perkins | Nov 22, 2021 |
It is okay to not be okay. Removing the stigma of mental health starts with realizing that many people—about one in five of all US adults--are affected by mental illness. Understanding this fact can lead to more people getting the help they require, not only by seeking guidance from a mental heal...
Posted by Matt Perkins | Nov 16, 2021 |
In the world of estate planning, you may come across the acronym HEMS from time to time. HEMS stands for “health, education, maintenance, or support” and is frequently included in trust agreements to guide a trustee on the types of distributions they may make to a trust beneficiary. When a truste...
Posted by Matt Perkins | Oct 27, 2021 |
Estate planning can be a very difficult process. While it is not brain surgery, making the decision to move forward with an estate plan requires us to face the fact that we will not live forever. This thought stops many people in their tracks. Others talk themselves out of seeing a qualified atto...
Posted by Matt Perkins | Aug 23, 2021 |
4 Myths and Frequently Asked Questions About Estate Planning for Senior Citizens
Posted by Matt Perkins | Aug 16, 2021 |
Perkins Law Group is part of your support team to make sure that your family is taken care of when they need us.
Posted by Matt Perkins | Aug 09, 2021 |
An overview of the four must-have estate planning tools for every family.
Posted by Matt Perkins | Jul 19, 2021 |
Choosing your Trustee is an important decision. Here are some things to consider before automatically naming one of your children as your Trustee.
Posted by Matt Perkins | Jun 28, 2021 |
Marriage as a legal institution has taken a variety of forms throughout history. As society evolves, how we identify marriage in our society also changes. In some states, a couple may be deemed married without having participated in judicial or religious ceremonies. These marriages are called com...
Posted by Matt Perkins | Jun 21, 2021 |
An important element of creating an estate plan is choosing a responsible party to handle your legal, medical, and financial affairs if you become unable to manage them yourself (i.e., become incapacitated) or die. The individual or entity you choose must be someone whom you can trust to make cru...
Posted by Matt Perkins | Jun 14, 2021 |
How do living trusts differ from testamentary trusts and constructive trusts?
Posted by Matt Perkins | May 04, 2021 |
One common storyline in Hollywood movies is the rich father disinheriting the family outcast. The story usually traces the child's attempts to win the father over and be considered a part of the family again. But can fiction imitate reality? Can you actually disinherit a child? The answer, in mos...
Posted by Matt Perkins | Apr 12, 2021 |
While watching a movie or reading a book about wealthy individuals and their families, you may have come across terms such as “heir,” “descendant,” and “next of kin.” Though made-for-Hollywood storylines use these terms interchangeably, words describing familial relationships have distinct defini...
Posted by Matt Perkins | Apr 05, 2021 |
Do you have an individual retirement account or other type of retirement account that you plan to leave to your loved ones? If so, proceed with caution. Inherited retirement accounts do not have asset protection when they pass to your loved ones, meaning creditors can seize the money in the accou...
Posted by Matt Perkins | Mar 15, 2021 |
Conversations about death and dying are rarely fun. Most people avoid them because they invoke feelings about our inevitable demise. Broaching this subject can be particularly difficult for parents and their adult children. Adult children may avoid bringing up the topic because they do not ...
Posted by Matt Perkins | Feb 22, 2021 |
If you want to provide for a loved one who is disabled or has special needs when you are no longer here, care must be taken to ensure that the inheritance you leave will help rather than harm your loved one. An inheritance received outright could negatively impact your loved one if he or she is c...
Posted by Matt Perkins | Feb 15, 2021 |
One of the most common forms of property ownership in the United States is joint tenancy with rights of survivorship (JTWROS or joint tenancy). But what is joint tenancy? Joint tenancy is a legal right to property that provides the owner an undivided right to the enjoyment of the property. In oth...
Posted by Matt Perkins | Feb 08, 2021 |
You just found out that your favorite aunt, Aunt Melba, has died. In the midst of your grief and sadness, you receive a notice from the attorney handling Aunt Melba's affairs stating that you are a beneficiary. Your best friend advises you to get an attorney. What should you do? Will Aunt Melba's...
Posted by Matt Perkins | Feb 01, 2021 |
As the world becomes more of a global community, it is no longer uncommon for married couples to maintain different citizenships. While a difference in citizenship alone can present complexities from an everyday tax perspective, another set of challenges arises when a noncitizen spouse separates ...
Posted by Matt Perkins | Jan 04, 2021 |
Timeshares have come a long way since they first arrived in the real estate market back in the '70s. In the early days of timeshare ownership, high-pressure sales tactics, exceedingly vague contracts, and inflexible scheduling policies caused many people to quickly regret such purchases. Over tim...
Posted by Matt Perkins | Dec 28, 2020 |
In early 2020, married actors Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson became honorary citizens of Greece. The president of Greece bestowed this honor upon them due in large part to their humanitarian work in the country after a deadly wildfire swept through Athens in 2018. Hanks and Wilson spend considerable ...
Posted by Matt Perkins | Dec 21, 2020 |
Misconceptions about who needs an estate plan abound. Most people believe that estate planning is only for extremely wealthy business moguls or celebrities. But that could not be further from the truth. Estate planning is the process of making decisions about what happens to you, your money, and ...
Posted by Matt Perkins | Dec 14, 2020 |
The death of an iconic figure can sometimes impact us deeply because it reminds us of our shared humanity. With a celebrity's passing, we realize that death is an equalizer. It also reminds us of the importance of estate planning to protect a person's money and property. Estate planning is not re...