Family & Disputes
Where to start if you have nothing in place
A practical sequence for anyone who has been deferring this, ordered by consequence rather than by complexity.
Harriet Cole
25 articles by Cole
Family & Disputes
When someone is left out and finds out
The reaction is generally about the message rather than the money, and there are better and worse ways for it to happen.
Estate Tax
Gifting to reduce a taxable estate
Effective where there is genuine exposure, counterproductive where there is not, and the distinction is frequently missed.
Family & Disputes
Financial exploitation of older relatives
Frequently committed by someone in a position of trust, and the estate consequences surface after the person has died.
Business Succession
Passing on a professional practice
Regulated practices face restrictions on who can own them, which narrows the succession options considerably.
Probate
When a beneficiary cannot be found
A missing heir can stall an administration indefinitely, and there are established procedures for dealing with it.
Wills & Trusts
Moving states and what it does to your plan
Documents drafted for one state generally remain valid elsewhere and may no longer produce the intended result.
Business Succession
Life insurance in business succession
The mechanism that funds most buy-sell agreements and equalises most family transfers, with technical points that matter.
Estate Tax
State death taxes and where they apply
A minority of states impose their own taxes, with thresholds well below the federal one and rules that catch people who moved.
Beneficiary Designations
What institutions actually require after a death
Claiming an inherited asset involves paperwork that varies by institution, and knowing what is coming shortens the process.
Wills & Trusts
Pets, personal effects and the things without value
Items of little financial worth cause a disproportionate share of estate disputes, and both problems are solvable in advance.
Business Succession
Governance in a family business
Structures that separate family relationships from business decisions, and why their absence causes most of the trouble.
Probate
When the estate has no money
Insolvent estates follow different rules, and an executor who treats one as an ordinary administration risks personal liability.
Beneficiary Designations
Inherited retirement accounts and the ten-year rule
Recent legislation compressed the distribution period for most heirs, which changed both the tax outcome and the planning.
Family & Disputes
Contesting a will, and whether it is worth it
The grounds are narrow, the costs are high, and the calculation is frequently made in anger rather than in arithmetic.
Estate Tax
Farms, land and illiquid estates
An estate whose value is entirely in property that cannot easily be divided or sold presents problems that cash estates do not.
Probate
Administering an estate from a distance
Executors frequently live in another state, and the practical difficulties are considerable but manageable.
Wills & Trusts
Special needs planning
An inheritance can disqualify a beneficiary from the support they rely on, and the structures that prevent it are well established.
Business Succession
Family businesses and the children who do not work there
The fairness problem at the centre of most family business succession, and the ways it is actually solved.
Estate Tax
The step-up in basis and why it matters more than estate tax
For the overwhelming majority of families, the capital gains treatment of inherited assets is the tax provision that actually affects them.
Beneficiary Designations
Divorce, remarriage and the designations nobody updated
A recurring and entirely avoidable outcome in which a former spouse inherits assets intended for someone else.
Wills & Trusts
Advance directives and the conversation behind them
The document matters less than whether the person who will be asked knows what you would want.
Business Succession
Passing on a business
Most owners intend to hand the business on and most have no written plan for doing it.
Probate
Being an executor: what you are taking on
An unpaid job with legal duties, personal liability and a timescale most people underestimate before agreeing to it.
Beneficiary Designations
Beneficiary designations override almost everything
The form you filled in at a job you left in 2004 may determine who receives a substantial part of your estate.