Kentucky Estates: articles on blended family estate planning
In the 90s, when the Internet was new and Bill Clinton still had more tomorrows than yesterdays, the estate tax exemption was $600,000, an amount even Thomas Piketty might think was rather low. In that sort of environment, credit shelter trust planning for married couples felt almost mandatory. We live in a very different world today. […]
Estate administration can be a frustrating experience for families and their advisors, because it’s an occasion when families fight. Sometimes the fights are necessary, and unavoidable. Many other times, to a detached observer, the fights seem silly. Whether justified (or not), whether necessary (or not), conflict makes estate administration cost more (even when litigation doesn’t […]
Whether or not to get a prenuptial agreement before getting married isn’t an easy decision. The advisability of a prenup turns in large part on whether the default law that will govern the marriage if it ends by death or divorce is agreeable. If you can live with the default rules, a prenup might not […]
We hope this mini-series on the knotty estate planning issues presenting in the (fictional) later lives of the Drapers convinced you that blended families often face much greater risks to relationships, harmony, and the orderly flow of wealth than they might first realize. Elective share statutes are one of the main unrealized dangers. In part […]
When a married couple doesn’t have the same beneficiaries in each of their estate plans, elective share statutes make it an unstable situation, as we began to see in part 1 — which ended with the fictional, widowed Megan Draper realizing that Don’s will had left her a lot of issues to consider. Let’s introduce […]
For many decades, when the estate tax exemption was much lower, a common perception was that estate planning centered on tax planning, reduction, and avoidance. This was never quite true: estate planning was always about the interaction between families, taxes, money, and (sometimes) the family business. Nonetheless, as the “taxes” element fades a little, the […]
Our previous post on per stirpes and per capita discussed a case study for Don and Betty Draper’s dysfunctional and very entertaining fictional family. Per stirpes or per capita distributions are important decisions, though, at almost all levels of wealth – certainly not only the “rich and famous”, but also the “modest and hardworking.” Marion […]
“Per capita” and “per stirpes” aren’t just Latin phrases estate planning attorneys use to try to look smart. They can produce very different results for the flow of family assets. Understanding the difference between the two approaches in an estate plan, and choosing the right one for your family’s situation, can avoid unpleasant and expensive […]