By Philip J. Kavesh, J.D., LL.M. (Taxation), CFP®, ChFC, California State Bar Certified Specialist in Estate Planning, Trust & Probate Law Some of the first jobs that I ever had were in the retail and customer service industries. I can recall, in much of the training that I received, being told the old adage that the “customer is always right”. Having run my own practice now for over 43 years, I can tell you that, although the old saying is usually true (or at least should be your guiding principle), there are times when the client is not right and,…
This Is the Worst Problem That Many Domestic Asset Protection Trust Jurisdictions Have
By Steven J. Oshins, Esq., AEP (Distinguished) I have assembled state rankings charts for many years showing which states are best for various types of trusts. With so many different charts and so many different variables, one variable stands out as being disregarded, or maybe even completely missed, by estate planners — the requirement in many of the states’ Domestic Asset Protection Trust (“DAPT”) statutes for the transferor to execute a new Affidavit of Solvency for each and every transfer to the DAPT. At first blush, one would think that this is merely a public policy requirement. We certainly don’t…
How You & Your Assistant Can Work Better Together
By Kristina Schneider, Practice Success Coach Trust in the workplace is always a difficult, but necessary, part of running a successful practice. A lot of estate planners, regardless of his or her professional designation, struggle with this concept. Although just about every single one of these professionals could benefit from having some kind of assistant or other administrative support, they have difficulty in trusting others to take on important tasks. Unfortunately, estate planners are only ever making any real money if they are either meeting with clients or doing some kind of marketing or networking to develop potential new business. …
Current State of the Corporate Transparency Act
By Griffin Bridgers, J.D., LL.M. (Taxation) UPDATE AS OF FEBRUARY 27, 2025 In certain geographic locales, it is often said that if you don’t like the weather, you should just wait 30 minutes. Such seems to be the nature of the Corporate Transparency Act. Less than 24 hours after this newsletter was published, FinCEN issued a press release on February 27 stating that there will be no fines, penalties, or enforcement actions for any failure to file or update BOI information by the current deadlines (March 21, 2025 or, if later, 30 days after filing or a change). As part…