What can you do if you live in a condo, townhouse or multifamily home, and you need more space but don’t want to move? For a growing number of people, the solution is to buy the unit next door, tear down a wall, and create a single, larger unit. Recently there’s been an uptick in the number of people combining two small condos into one larger one, or converting a two- or three-family home into a
Most stores that lease space in a mall or other commercial area would like a guarantee of “exclusive use,” meaning that the landlord won’t also rent space to a competing business. Here are some things to consider if you’re negotiating over such a right in a lease: What’s the use? The “use” you have in mind should be described in detail, to avoid problems later. For instance, if an ice-cream-cone shop also sells some ice-cream cakes,
Some homeowners are running into a big problem when the take out a mortgage (or refinance a mortgage) to pay for a remodeling project. The problem occurs if the remodeling is so extensive that the owners temporarily move out while the work is being done. Generally, lenders give better terms and rates to homebuyers who plan to stay in a home as their primary residence, as opposed to investors who plan to quickly remodel a home
The company behind the most widely-used credit score in America has announced three major changes to how it calculates consumers’ scores – and they could potentially help millions of people to get a better rate on a mortgage. The so-called FICO score is used throughout the lending industry. A new version – called FICO 9 – has now been introduced, and it includes these changes: (1) A limited credit history is less of a problem. Currently,
Grandparents often want to help with their grandchildren’s college tuition bills. But you should be very careful about using a 529 plan for these expenses. The reason? College financial aid programs generally don’t consider parents’ contributions from a 529 plan as student income, but they typically do consider grandparent 529 contributions as income. As a result, these contributions could reduce a student’s eligibility for grants, subsidized loans, and work-study programs. Only 11% of grandparents are aware
A power of attorney document allows someone else to act as your agent and handle your legal and financial affairs. It’s critical to have such a document in case you become incapacitated. Sometimes, people want to name more than one agent. For instance, a person may have two children, and not want one child to feel that the other is being favored. Sometimes a parent will name two children and give them both access to all
Sometimes, despite everyone’s best efforts, things change and the terms of an older, irrevocable trust just don’t work as well as they could in the present circumstances. But there’s a movement afoot to allow people in such a situation to solve the problem by moving the assets from an older trust into a newer one with more appropriate rules. This is sometimes called “decanting” a trust, because you’re basically pouring the assets from an older container
As a result of changes in the law, a lot of wills that were drafted even relatively recently may now result in a capital gains tax issue, and if you have such a will, you might want to consider revising it to save taxes. Here’s the background: When a person dies, he or she can leave an unlimited amount of assets to a spouse without incurring the federal estate tax. If assets are left to anyone
If you’re wondering at what age your children or grandchildren will be old enough to handle an inheritance, well, you’re not alone. U.S. Trust recently conducted a survey of wealthy Americans (with assets of $3 million or more) and asked them that precise question. The issue is important because many parents leave assets in a trust for children or grandchildren until they reach a certain age, so the parents have to choose an age at which
Often, one of the hardest decisions people make in the estate planning process is how much (and when) to tell their children or other heirs about their plans. There’s no single right answer for everybody; what to do depends on the nature of your planning and your family circumstances. But it’s worth giving the issue some consideration. Many people are very hesitant to reveal the details of their family’s expected inheritances. A recent survey by UBS
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