Legal Webinars & Blogs Archive
What are the different types of trusts? What is a trust fund? What is a trust account? How do taxes work in a living trust? When should you make a will, and what should be in it? What is a Power of Attorney, and do you really need one? This set of webinars & blogs deals with all the basics, including the biggest estate planning mistakes, the most common estate planning issues, and how to work with an estate planning attorney.
A parent or loved one dies, and you discover that you are the new trustee of their estate, and the executor of their will. What happens now? In these webinars & blogs, we answer questions like: What steps does a trustee need to take when someone dies, and what are the common pitfalls? What are the executor responsibilities to beneficiaries?
Most of us will experience a significant incapacity at some point in our lives, and most will need someone to take over our affairs while we are out of action. Everyone needs a plan to deal with the significant costs which will inevitably occur. You’ll also learn about Long-Term Care Insurance options, in-home care costs, and financial planning for disability.
Believe us when we say you don’t know nearly enough about your IRAs and other retirement accounts. The laws about passing on IRAs to heirs are complex and fraught with peril for both you and your beneficiaries. Statistics show that 87% of heirs make disastrous mistakes with the IRA accounts they inherit—losing 50% or more to taxes.
These webinars & blogs deal with handling IRAs during your lifetime and beyond: What are RMDs and how do I take them? Can my beneficiaries cash in my IRA? Should my IRA be in my Living Trust? Should I convert my regular IRA to a Roth IRA? What if I inherit an IRA? Will I get taxed on my parents’ IRA now that I own it? Is there some way to lower the tax on an inherited IRA? What is an IRA Legacy Trust and do I need one?
What exactly would happen to your minor children if something happened to you? How does guardianship for minors and special needs dependents work? Can an inheritance knock a disabled person off of public assistance? And what about potentially irresponsible heirs – alcoholic, drug-addicted, or loved ones who simply cannot handle money?
In these webinars & blogs we’ll talk about special trusts set up for minors, special needs, disabled, and irresponsible heirs, along with nominating guardians, naming trust protectors, handling life insurance, and other difficult subjects you absolutely must consider if you take care of others.
Perhaps you don’t realize that leaving a beneficiary money or real estate can make them vulnerable to attack by creditors or ex-spouses, can complicate a bankruptcy, or lead to even greater issues.
If you think you or your heirs might face that kind of danger, you should take steps to protect your assets from attack both now and in the future. Learn about strategies like Asset Protection Trusts by CLICKING HERE for related legal webinars & blogs from Cunningham Legal.
What special rights does a spouse have – and not have – when inheriting assets? Can a spouse access your retirement accounts? What steps should you take together to ensure a smooth succession to a spouse in a Living Trust?
In this series of webinars & blogs, we also answer: How should an Estate Plan and Living Trust deal with ex-spouses, a blended family, or other complicated family situations? Does an ex-spouse have to be included in your will or Trust? Are there special laws in California related to blended families and inheritance? How can a Living Trust or Will be fair to an ex-spouse and children from more than one marriage?
It’s not just the super-wealthy who can benefit from advanced tax planning, and everyone with significant assets needs strategies to deal with estate taxes.
What tax strategies have very wealthy families traditionally used that I should consider too? How much in assets require professional tax planning? How can I reduce estate taxes? Reduce income taxes? Reduce capital gains taxes?
Topics include specialized trusts, family LLCs, Donor-Advised Funds, Real Estate Donations after death, tax-advantaged Stock Donations, Charitable Lead Trusts, Charitable Remainder Trusts, Charitable Foundations, minimizing taxes for business owners, and more.
If you own any real estate in California – residential or otherwise – the property tax caps offered by Proposition 13 can play a dramatic role in your life. These webinars & blogs answer questions like: How can I avoid a reassessment of my house under California’s Proposition 13 when it’s passed on to my heirs? How can I pass on my property tax rights to my children, despite the passage of Proposition 19 in 2020? If I’m over 55, how can I use Prop 19 to move my property tax caps to a new property? Includes discussion of advanced strategies available to people who may have missed the Prop 19, Feb. 2021 deadline to transfer properties to their children.
What attorneys work at CunninghamLegal, and how does the firm do Estate Planning? These webinars & blogs explain our process, give you a bit of history about the firm, and introduce you to the best lawyers in California estate planning.
These webinars & blogs go deep into financial planning and investing topics with recognized experts in the field–everything from how to allocate your precious investment funds to how to minimize taxes on returns.
Many of these webinars & blogs feature Ascent Wealth Management. Jim Cunningham and John Lindsey co-founded Ascent Wealth Management (AWM) to better serve the clients of Cunningham Legal. They have known each other as friends and trusted referral partners since 1999. In most Attorney and Advisor relationships the care of their clients ends at the point of the referral, leaving gaps in the execution of the financial and estate plan. Jim Cunningham not only co-founded AWM, he is also serving as General Counsel—and by having a vested interest in the success of AWM, there is a high level of coordination, communication, and service to our mutual clients.