“Rent-to-own” is a way of acquiring an asset – most often a principal residence. Usually, a rent-to-own agreement is a lease with an attached option. The landlord sells the tenant an option to buy the property at a fixed price at some point in the future. There may be a small down payment of some… Read More
The reappearance of Brenda Heist last week after being declared legally dead has brought me all sorts of questions. The Pennsylvania Statute that governs the property of absentees and persons presumed dead is at 50 Pa. Cons. Stat. §§ 5701 through 5706. Generally, if a person disappears and is absent from his place of residence… Read More
How many times have you heard someone say “Oh no, that will put me in a higher tax bracket?” Most of the time these folks do not understand how tax brackets work. A lot of folks, including some very intelligent and/or successful professional types, erroneously believe that if their income nudges them over into the… Read More
The Bigger They Are . . . . . The Harder They Fall The IRS has hit the estate of former Detroit Pistons owner, William Davidson, with a $2 Billion tax bill. Yes, that’s a “B”, not an “M” — $2 Billion. William Morse “Bill” Davidson, who died in March 2009 at age 86, was… Read More
Exemptions from tax for non-profits: should an income exemption be enough? Non-profit organizations that meet IRS guidelines are exempt from paying income tax. The tax policy behind the exemption is that these types of organizations benefit the community and therefore reduce the burden on government. A similar policy is behind giving individuals a charitable deduction… Read More
Domestic asset protection trusts are irrevocable trusts that a person creates to protect assets from future creditors. They are termed “domestic” to distinguish them from offshore trusts. Asset protection trusts do not offer income tax protection as all income of the trust is deemed income of the settlor. They are designed to protect the settlor… Read More
Roth IRAs do not have minimum distribution requirements during the account owner’s lifetime. Age 70½ can come and go and no distributions are required. This allows more wealth to accumulate tax-free as the assets stay in the Roth IRA and earnings are reinvested tax-free. Roth IRAs are a great tool to consider in estate planning.… Read More
A Roth IRA is an individual retirement account named after the United States Congressman William Victor Roth Jr., who was the legislative sponsor of the bill creating this plan. When a traditional IRA is converted to a Roth, all before-tax contributions made to the IRA become taxable; and the income tax must be paid. But… Read More
Did you know that in President Obama’s budget proposal for fiscal 2014 released in April includes a tax increase for formerly tax-free municipal bond interest? First, some background: Municipal bonds (munis) are debt obligations issued by government entities. When you buy a municipal bond, you are loaning money to the issuer in exchange for a… Read More
Experience shows that the biggest liquidity problem is not paying estate and inheritance taxes – it is equalizing the inheritance among the family members. Business is very difficult, if not impossible, to divide equitably. Many business owners ignore this problem. They leave behind them a legacy of hard feelings and bitterness. Therefore, for the sake… Read More