Training on Standalone IRA Beneficiary Trusts

We are holding one of our most popular technical training teleconferences on the IRA Inheritance Trust® tomorrow with our President, estate planning attorney and IRA Inheritance Trust® creator, Philip Kavesh. This teleconference is always one of our most well-attended and popular programs for those looking to add this unique and niche area of planning to their estate planning practice. See below for more information: The Traps and Tricks of Properly Drafting IRA Trusts Speaker: Philip Kavesh, J.D., LL.M. (Taxation), CFP®, ChFC, CA State Bar Certified Specialist in Estate Planning, Trust & Probate Law Date: Wednesday, March 5, 2014 Time: 9am…

8 Year-End Practice Building Tips to Implement RIGHT NOW

By Philip J. Kavesh, J.D., LL.M. (Taxation), CFP®, ChFC, California State Bar Certified Specialist in Estate Planning, Trust & Probate Law As your business winds down near year-end (unlike 2012, when everyone was doing last-minute wealth transfer planning because of anticipated changes in the estate tax laws), it’s a good time to work on your business – – rather than in your business, as we practitioners are often trapped doing throughout the year. Hopefully, this article will serve as a brief checklist of action steps you can take now to assure a more effective, profitable and enjoyable 2014.  By the way, this…

Maximizing IRAs Using Trusts: Kavesh Technique Anticipates Boom by Robert L. Moshman, Esq.

Reproduced with the expressed written consent and permission from Robert L. Moshman, Esq., author of the The Estate Analyst. To contact Bob Moshman to be included on his distribution list of his monthly newsletter, e-mail Bob at bmoshman@optonline.net. A Baby Boomer with an otherwise unremarkable estate could leave behind a supercharged IRA that empowers beneficiaries. Philip J. Kavesh, a veteran estate planning attorney who has trained thousands of financial professionals, took part in designing the IRA Inheritance Trust® and successfully obtained a Private Letter Ruling for the technique in 2005. Although several variations of “stretch-out” or “see-through” trusts have performed…

Fight Back Against “Commoditization” and Low-Priced Competition

Download Printable Article By Philip J. Kavesh, J.D., LL.M. (Taxation), CFP®, ChFC, California State Bar Certified Specialist in Estate Planning, Trust & Probate Law (UPDATED JULY 2015) The estate planning profession, and in particular the basic Living Trust-centered practice, has been hammered by new challenges.  There’s the proliferation of Internet “zoom” document providers and do-it-yourself trust kits (Suze Orman and the like).  There are non-attorney trust mills increasingly grabbing market share (often in violation of the state statutes prohibiting the unauthorized practice of law).  And there are bargain-priced, low-end attorneys (many of whom have jumped aboard the Living Trust craze…

Recent Decision on Bankruptcy and Inherited IRA Case Confirms Benefit of Standalone IRA Trust

Thanks to the assistance of Michelle Ward of Keebler & Associates, LLP for bringing to our attention a recent case regarding bankruptcy exemption for inherited IRAs. The 7th Circuit Court of Appeals has reversed a district court’s ruling extending bankruptcy exemption to an inherited IRA (Download Case). In Clark, the Wisconsin district court had previously reversed the bankruptcy court’s decision and allowed an inherited IRA to be exempt from the bankruptcy estate. The debtors, Mr. and Mrs. Clark, filed for chapter 7 bankruptcy in 2010. Mrs. Clark had inherited an IRA from her mother in 2001. Neither Mr. nor Mrs….

How to Thrive in the Under $5 Million Estate Market

By Philip J. Kavesh, J.D., LL.M. (Tax), CFP®, ChFC, California State Bar Certified Specialist in Estate Planning, Tax and Probate Law I and many practitioners have over the years built successful practices on what I call the “middle market”, that is, estates valued anywhere from $500,000 to $5 million. This level of estate planning practice faces a number of challenges today unlike any we have had in the past. Our services have become commoditized into mass produced documents, with increasing low-priced competition from the internet, do-it-yourself packages, non-attorney paralegals and bargain-priced attorneys. Plus, with the new $5.12 million Federal Estate…

Top 10 Things Every Advisor Needs to Know About Inherited IRAs

By Michael J. Jones, CPA | Volume 2, Issue 6 (June 2014) In my practice, I’m seeing an increase in inherited Individual Retirement Accounts. That’s alerted me to an ever-increasing need for practitioners to review not only how IRAs fit into clients’ financial planning, but also to review and advise them properly regarding the beneficiary form and other key issues. Here are some things advisors and their clients need to keep in mind. An IRA is a ticking tax bomb. Unlike other assets, the income tax basis in an IRA inheritor’s hands will not be its fair market value upon death….