The words tumble through your field of vision – Will, trust, POA, medical directive, guardian, executor; and if you are like many people these terms are little more than a word soup that induces unease or fear and makes you want to ignore your absent estate plan for yet another year.  In my experience, the biggest hurdle people often feel about finally taking care of their estate plan is their

In business, it is not always feasible or practical to get all agreements in writing. When running a business, dealing with the vendors, suppliers and even business partners can mean that some agreements are reached and promises made based on just a handshake. But what happens when one party breaches the oral agreement? Is the oral agreement an enforceable contract? As with many things in the law, it depends. In

If you have retirement accounts, then estate planning is relevant to you. Inherited retirement accounts typically fall outside of the probate process because the decedent would have elected their beneficiaries and contingent beneficiaries through their retirement plan. The issue for the beneficiaries raised by inherited retirement accounts is that they are considered as income and the beneficiaries are subject to income taxes on the retirement money. The second issue is

Beneficiaries of a decedent’s estate may be subject to pay estate taxes. The current federal estate tax rate is 40%. However, the good news for Georgia’s wealthy families is that the current federal estate tax exemptions are quite generous and Georgia has no estate taxes. Congress and the Georgia’s state legislator have vastly revamped the estate tax laws in favor of the beneficiaries. Estate taxes are overwhelming unpopular as the

2014 has been more of a prime year for business owners to consider selling their business since the bottom fell out of the market in 2008. Stock prices have been rising, interest rates have been at historical lows, and the economy in general has been improving over the last few years. These conditions may make selling a wise fiscal decision. In general, the process can take 9-12 months. These are

A living trust is a legal way that one person holds legal title to property belonging to another person in trust. This method is most commonly utilized to maintain privacy and avoid the expense and complications of probate. Every living trust must contain these four elements: “Trustor” or “Grantor”: The creator of the trust “Trust Corpus”: Assets of the trust “Trustee”: The person who holds legal title to the property