Jerome and Sandra Murray signed a “joint will” in 1993. It provided that if one of them died, the other would inherit all the property. It also said that the will couldn’t be modified unless they both agreed to any changes. Unfortunately, the couple divorced in 2001. In the divorce settlement, Sandra received a condo in New York. In 2006, she put the condo into a trust. The trust document said that if she died, the

Many power of attorney and health care proxy documents that were created years ago should be revised now as a result of a federal medical privacy law. The law, known as HIPAA, generally prevents health care providers from disclosing your personal medical information to anyone but you and someone you’ve named as your “personal representative.” Medical privacy may be a good thing – but the law can create complications.

As part of their estate planning, many people want to give away property during their lifetime in order to reduce the size of their taxable estate. In general, you can give $13,000 a year to anyone you like without having to pay gift tax, and you can make additional gifts over this limit, over the course of your lifetime, up to the amount of your gift tax exemption (although these larger gifts will reduce your estate’s

If you’re moving (or considering moving) to another state, it’s a good time to update your estate planning. Of course, your estate plan should be updated any time you make a major change, such as buying or selling real estate. But even if you’re not buying or selling anything, it’s wise to review your estate plan when you move because different states have different laws about how estate documents are interpreted. For instance, New Yorker Rosanne

Widows and widowers who are considering remarriage should be aware that a new federal tax law could potentially make a huge difference in how much of their assets they are able to leave to their heirs after taxes. In general, anyone who is considering remarriage later in life should talk to an estate planner first in order to avoid possible tax problems. But this new law gives added urgency to this rule, because it potentially could

Florida has a new law on powers of attorney. The law is important for anyone who recently moved to Florida, as well as anyone who lives elsewhere but owns a vacation home there or regularly spends time in the state. Florida will no longer accept powers of attorney unless they are signed by two witnesses and notarized. Also, powers must take effect immediately, rather than only if the person becomes incapacitated. Power of attorney documents that

People are sometimes concerned that after they die, a beneficiary (or more likely a non-beneficiary) will go to court to contest their will. Typically, a disgruntled would-be heir might claim that the person who made the will wasn’t mentally competent, or was under undue influence from some other person. These types of will contests can be very expensive, and they can cause a lot of emotional hardship within a family. Recently, a handful of states have