Blog

When you form a trust as part of your estate plan, one of the most important decisions you will make is who will oversee the trust’s management when you are no longer able to manage it (also known as your successor trustee). Because a trustee’s work may be time-consuming, complicated, and risk liability, many people who create a trust consider naming a professional fiduciary as their trustee. Keep in mind that if you ask your estate planning attorney to serve as your successor trustee, you should ask for a separate engagement letter from the one you sign engaging them to create your estate plan. When looking to hire a professional to serve as your trustee, the following are several red flags you should keep in mind.

Continue Reading

It is important to let your estate planning attorney know if you own real estate that is subject to a mortgage. Most mortgages include due-on-sale clauses stating that, upon the transfer of the mortgaged property, the entire amount of the debt owed on the mortgage is immediately due and payable. Under the Garn–St Germain Depository Institutions Act of 1982[1] (Garn–St Germain Act), lenders are prohibited from enforcing due-on-sale clauses in some circumstances but not in others. If your estate plan involves the transfer of property subject to a mortgage, it is important to keep this in mind.

Continue Reading

Many people love to enjoy a good book on vacation.  While that bestselling paperback or sunscreen covered favorite, may hold sentimental value, a book and its value is an often overlooked part of a decedent’s estate.

Continue Reading

Just as preparations are necessary for a successful cookout, a little planning goes a long way to prevent a poorly designed estate plan (or no estate plan at all!) from leaving you and your loved ones in a pickle.

Continue Reading

Getting ready to head out on your next great adventure? Whether heading to the Jersey shore or Tahiti, before you zip up the last suitcase, here are five issues you need to address to protect yourself and your loved ones.

Continue Reading

When Will a Trust Terminate? Nothing lasts forever. While trusts can stretch across generations and keep valuable money and property within a family, no trust has unlimited funds or an interminable time horizon. Every trust, at some point, will end. The reasons why a trust might terminate can v...

Continue Reading

When it comes to protecting your hard-earned money and property, it is important that you have the right plan, which can include a number of tools for your unique situation. One tool that might benefit you is a limited liability company (LLC) that owns some of your accounts and property.

Continue Reading

What Happens When an LLC Member Dies in New Jersey ? In theory, a limited liability company (LLC) can last in perpetuity. However, the owners of an LLC should plan for the day when they are no longer able to run their business. This includes not only situations like retirement, career change and...

Continue Reading

Celebrate International Women's Day. Get your Estate Planning in order.

Continue Reading

Things to Consider Before Leaving Your Retirement Account to your Minor Child Many people consider naming their children as the beneficiaries of these accounts because they think it is a way of easily transferring their wealth if something happens to them. However, there are some factors that make this type of transfer more complicated than you may think, especially if your child is a minor.

Continue Reading

A right of occupancy trust allows you to designate a beneficiary to live at your residence or use another piece of real estate for a designated time period or until the beneficiary dies or moves away.

Continue Reading

On Friday, July 8, 2022, the IRS issued a revenue procedure (Rev. Proc. 2022-32), extending the time to elect portability of a deceased spouses unused exclusion amount for as much as five years after the decedent's death. Prior to t...

Continue Reading

It's Time to Shed the Taboo of Speaking about Finances and Death Most of my Clients have one thing in common.  They believe their finances and legacy planning are private matters.  There are times when it is not only beneficial but necessary to discuss these delicate topics with those you trust!

Continue Reading

A power of appointment is an estate planning tool used to provide significant flexibility in design and strategy. This should not be confused with a Power of Attorney, an important document that is a necessary part of a complete Life and Legacy Plan.  The power of appointment is a power reserved ...

Continue Reading

Myths about Estate Planning Estate planning can be a very challenging process. While it may not be quantum physics or brain surgery, making the decision to prepare an estate plan forces us to face the fact that is we will not live forever. Avoiding thoughts of our death is one reason estate pl...

Continue Reading

Today is World Cancer Day.  World cancer day, held every February 4th, is the global uniting initiative led by the Union for International Cancer Control to raise awareness, improve education, initiate action, and promote a united positive movement with a goal of creating a future without cancer. 

Continue Reading

Take steps to start your Life and Legacy planning today!  Take action to ensure you voice is heard when you are unable to speak for yourself.  Make the decision to protect yourself, your loved ones, your business, your property by design and not by default!

Continue Reading

Zoning Laws and Municipal Ordinances Before starting with any real estate or land development project in New Jersey, it is essential to understand the state's zoning laws. In New Jersey, each municipality is permitted to establish its own building and land use laws, often called municipal zoning...

Continue Reading

If you are a New Jersey resident looking to make improvements or changes to your home or commercial property, you may need to file a land use application to make that happen. Each municipality across the state of New Jersey operates independently when it comes to land use applications, often lead...

Continue Reading

Industrial properties are attracting bold investors who wisely hesitate to plow earnings back into a heated stock market. Investors today are well aware of stock market risks. When retail investment markets are frothy, wise investors return to commerce fundamentals. Industrial properties supporti...

Continue Reading

Where do you find a good plumber? Who can recommend a good Italian restaurant? Who is the best divorce attorney in town? Sometimes these answers are found by asking family, friends, and neighbors, but many people find answers to these questions on social media and review sites such as Google, Yel...

Continue Reading

Business owners often get caught up in the day-to-day management and functions of their businesses, and with good reason. As a business owner, you company may feel like a part of you, and you are likely the heart and soul of the company you lead. Your community and clients admire you, and you hav...

Continue Reading

Regardless of whether you're a larger company or a mom-and-pop shop, many business owners face the same question regarding commercial property. The decision to lease or buy commercial real estate should be carefully weighed. Factors like cash flow, location, and your long-term business goals will...

Continue Reading

Anytime you agree to undertake a real estate venture with another individual or entity, it's advisable that all parties put the agreement in writing. Joint venture real estate agreements are an excellent, legally enforceable tool designed to outline expectations and obligations between two or mor...

Continue Reading

New Jersey is different from other states in that it requires a commercial property purchaser to first conduct a Preliminary Assessment to be protected under the New Jersey Spill Compensation and Control Act (Spill Act). In recent cases, the court discovered that most purchasers do not perform ad...

Continue Reading