Category Archives: LLCs

Estate Planning for College Students and Young Professionals

Posted on by under Estate Planning, Family Business, Family Limited Partnerships, Financial Powers of Attorney, Kansas, Living Wills, LLCs, Medical Powers of Attorney, Missouri, Small Business, Trusts, Wills

Forbes’ Deborah Jacobs has this interesting article about the basic estate planning documents every adult needs – even college students and young professionals. The Forbes article recommends every adult should have medical and financial durable powers of attorney signed and in force. As an attorney, I agree and would add that you also need a will and a living will. If you’re married, you and your spouse should each have these documents. If you’re a wealthy person or have complex financial holdings, you may need a trust or more sophisticated documents. If you travel domestically or abroad, you also need estate planning documents in place – even if you’re not wealthy or don’t have extensive business interests. (I often insist clients execute basic estate planning documents before traveling internationally or for long periods of time for business. Otherwise, you’re risking the financial and medical well being or yourself, your family, and/or your business.) Not having estate planning documents in place is gambling with you and your family’s future. If you’re a more seasoned person, it would be “criminally negligent” (in C.S. Lewis’ words) not to have a will or other estate planning documents in place (The World’s Last Night). My firm crafts tailored estate planning documents for you that are affordable, reliable, include cutting-edge provisions standard (like asset protection, probate avoidance, elder law, and digital estate planning), and work smoothly whether you’re in the U.S. or abroad.

My law firm, Johnson Law KC LLC, is experienced counseling clients from all stages and walks of life on every aspect of estate planning. We can help you answer these questions with confidence and friendly expertise. If we can serve you or your family with your charitable giving questions, please call (913-707-9220) or email us (steve@johnsonlawkc.com) to schedule a free, convenient consultation.

(c) 2014, Stephen M. Johnson, Esq.

Testamentary Capacity and Family Businesses

Posted on by under Business Succession Planning, Business Transitions, Elder Law, Estate & Trust Litigation, Family Business, Family Limited Partnerships, Financial Powers of Attorney, Illiquid Assets, Kansas, Living Wills, LLCs, Medical Powers of Attorney, Missouri, Small Business, Testamentary Capacity, Trusts, Wills

Bessemer Trust provides this fascinating brief study of the testamentary capacity and other issues arising from the recent sale of the LA Clippers basketball team by the Sterling Family Trust to former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer for a cool $2 billion, following the publication of Mr Sterling’s racist comments and ensuing fine and lifetime ban from the NBA. As people begin to live longer (a good thing), we will see higher stakes contests in and out of court to prove someone did (or didn’t) have testamentary capacity – they could (or couldn’t) have validly signed a will, trust, living will, or power of attorney. Look for some high profile cases to emerge as highly contentious court battles – think celebrity or billionaire divorce trials. And look for creative attorneys to design provisions that hold up better in court or keep these matters out of court using improved negotiations and family dynamic consultations.

My law firm, Johnson Law KC LLC, is experienced counseling clients on all aspects of estate planning, asset protection, and helping to structure charitable giving. We can help you answer these questions with confidence and friendly expertise. If we can serve you or your family with your charitable giving questions, please call (913-707-9220) or email us (steve@johnsonlawkc.com) to schedule a free, convenient consultation.

(c) 2014, Stephen M. Johnson, Esq.

 

Dynasty Trusts: A Great Estate Planning Tool

Posted on by under Asset Protection, BDITs, Business Succession Planning, Dynasty Trusts, Estate & Trust Administration, Estate Planning, Estate Tax, Family Business, Family Limited Partnerships, Financial Powers of Attorney, Generation Skipping Tax, Gift Tax, Gifts to Minors, Illiquid Assets, Kansas, Living Wills, LLCs, Medical Powers of Attorney, Missouri, Probate, Small Business, Special Needs Trusts, Trusts, Wills

The WSJ has this useful perspective on dynasty trusts and inheriting in trust. Dynasty trusts enable families to take care of future generations and ensure their philanthropic and business legacy while protecting hard-earned wealth from creditors, divorcing spouses, and other potential money drains. My firm counsels Kansas and Missouri clients to use Missouri dynasty trusts to help achieve their estate planning goals.

My law firm, Johnson Law KC LLC, has experience working with individuals and families to serve their business and estate planning. I enjoy working with a variety of clients – ranging from single young professionals with minimal assets to multimillionaire business owners with complex trusts. My firm has strong relationships with local and national trust companies to help administer all types and ranges of trusts. If my law firm can help you or your family with your estate planning, elder law, asset protection, business law needs, or digital estate planning, including advising on trustee removal or other fiduciary litigation, call me (913-707-9220) or email me (steve@johnsonlawkc.com) for a free, convenient appointment.

(c) 2014, Stephen M. Johnson, Esq.

 

 

Protecting Your Hard Work from Lawsuits: 21st Century Professional Asset Protection

Posted on by under Asset Protection, Dynasty Trusts, Elder Law, Estate Planning, Family Business, Family Limited Partnerships, Financial Powers of Attorney, Kansas, Living Wills, LLCs, Medical Powers of Attorney, Missouri, Prenups, Small Business, Trusts, Wills

The WSJ has this helpful article surveying different asset protection options with an eye towards insulating your hard earning wealth from lawsuits. We’ve discussed the basics of asset protection in this post, Asset Protection 101. Another asset protection motive is to protect your wealth from divorcing spouses – either yours or your children’s or grandchildren’s. A well drafted prenuptial agreement can help. As can holding the assets in a corporation, LLC, or irrevocable trust, outside of your direct control or ownership. The key with asset protection, as the WSJ article emphasizes, is to move some (not all) of your assets into a protective structure before creditors loom on the horizon. Like sharks circling on the trail of blood in the water, once creditors are in the picture, asset protection becomes much harder.

My law firm, Johnson Law KC LLC, is experienced counseling families and small business owners on using various asset protection tools. If I can help you or your family with your asset protection needs, call (913-707-9220) or email me (steve@johnsonlawkc.com) to schedule a convenient, free consultation. You owe it to yourself and your family to protect your hard work.

(c) 2014, Stephen M. Johnson, Esq.

Estate Planning in 2014

Posted on by under Asset Protection, Business Succession Planning, Digital Estate Planning, Estate & Trust Administration, Estate & Trust Litigation, Estate Planning, Estate Tax, Family Business, Family Limited Partnerships, Financial Powers of Attorney, Kansas, Living Wills, LLCs, Medical Powers of Attorney, Missouri, Small Business, Trusts, Uncategorized, Wills

Some recent online highlights from the estate planning literature. Steve Akers of Bessemer Trust offers this helpful summary of the Fall 2013 ACTEC meeting. Here’s his take on Heckerling 2014. And Wealth Counsel recently sponsored a Heckerling Nuggets 2014 webcast – slides here. The ABA’s report of Heckerling 2014 is here – part 1 and part 2.

My firm has experience working with individuals and families throughout the business and estate planning processes. I’ve enjoyed working with clients ranging from single young professionals who want to plan for the future to business owners with complex trusts and tens of millions in assets. If my law firm can help you or your family with your estate planning, elder law, asset protection, business law needs, or digital estate planning, call me (913-707-9220) or email me (steve@johnsonlawkc.com) for a free, convenient appointment. I want to make business and estate planning simple and straightforward to serve your legal needs and help protect you and your business from lurking liabilities.

(c) 2014, Stephen M. Johnson, Esq.

Protecting Your Business and Assets

Posted on by under Asset Protection, BDITs, Business Succession Planning, Digital Estate Planning, Estate & Trust Litigation, Estate Planning, Family Business, Family Limited Partnerships, Financial Powers of Attorney, Kansas, Living Wills, LLCs, Medical Powers of Attorney, Missouri, Prenups, Probate, QPRTs, Retirement, Small Business, Trusts, Wills

The Kansas City Business Journal has this helpful article with strategies for protecting your business and assets if a divorce or other unpleasantness arises in your life.

While divorce or creditor lawsuits are never welcome developments in someone’s game plan, the best offense is a good defense. My firm has experience working with individuals and families throughout the business and estate planning processes. I’ve enjoyed working with clients ranging from single young professionals who want to plan for the future to business owners with complex trusts and tens of millions in assets. If my law firm can help you or your family with your estate planning, elder law, asset protection, business law needs, or digital estate planning, call me (913-707-9220) or email me (steve@johnsonlawkc.com) for a free, convenient appointment. I want to make business and estate planning simple and straightforward to serve your legal needs and help protect you and your business from lurking liabilities.

(c) 2014, Stephen M. Johnson, Esq.

 

Estate Planning Like a Billionaire

Posted on by under BDITs, Business Succession Planning, Business Transitions, Dynasty Trusts, Estate & Trust Administration, Estate & Trust Litigation, Estate Planning, Estate Tax, Family Business, Family Limited Partnerships, Financial Powers of Attorney, Generation Skipping Tax, Gift Tax, Gifts to Minors, Income Tax, Kansas, Living Wills, LLCs, Medical Powers of Attorney, Missouri, Small Business, Trust protector, Trusts, Wills

Bloomberg has this fascinating article exploring grantor retained annuity trusts (GRATs) and grantor retained income trusts (GRITs) and how they are used by very wealthy business owners to pass assets to the family without incurring estate or gift taxes. (Longtime readers may recall our discussion of Mitt Romney’s large scale estate planning for his family’s estimated $750 million fortune.) Many estate planning attorneys and accountants make a sport of devising creative methods to help clients save money and pass their wealth on to future generations. The ideas aren’t illegal or unethical, they simply utilize gaps in the IRS Code that Congress and/or the Treasury haven’t solved that yield big savings to clients when multiplied by millions of shares in a given company. Estate planners are careful when practicing on the cutting edge of tax law to gauge how much risk the client is willing to take on (e.g. whether the IRS will void a transaction and send the client a tax bill), how much money is at stake, and how reliable/tested a technique is. While the estate planning techniques discussed in the Bloomberg article have been blessed by various authorities (the IRS, the Tax Court, or others), many advanced trust or tax techniques are in a legal grey area – we know X is illegal and we know Y is OK, but what about something between X and Y?

In law school, the first day of estate planning class with Prof. Martin Dickinson, he told us a story about a family business in a small town where a father gave his wife and each of his 4 children a 20% stake in the family business (worth about $5,000 each at the time, the annual gift tax exemption) in 1953. 60 years later, that family business is called Wal Mart and each 20% stake is worth $20 billion. So $100 billion was transferred without estate or gift tax liability. Sam Walton relates the story in his autobiography Made in America and credits his fraternity brother and banker, R. Crosby Kemper Jr., of UMB Bank with helping him develop the business. Here’s Bloomberg’s visual of some of the tricks of the estate planning world.

Inheriting in trust is better than inheriting money in your individual name, as it protects your inheritance from lawsuits, creditors, and divorcing spouses, among other unpleasant life surprises. Inheriting in trust using a discretionary trust provides asset protection. Asset protection uses a separate entity (e.g. a trust or LLC) to hold an asset and protect it from your creditors, divorcing spouses, spendthrift kids, or others. Asset protection trusts are not allowed under Kansas law (see K.S.A. 33-101), but Kansas and Missouri residents can use a Missouri trust to protect assets for generations. Missouri (unlike Kansas) welcomes dynasty trusts – irrevocable trusts designed to pass wealth across families for generations – and allows them to last indefinitely. For clients who anticipate inheriting over $400,000, we recommend a Missouri inheritor’s trust. An inheritor’s trust allows you to protect the assets and keep them off your balance sheet for tax purposes (so you don’t have to worry about estate, gift, or generation-skipping taxes) while having the assets available for your use and enjoyment.

My firm has experience working with individuals and families to serve their business, estate planning, and nonprofit/charitable/philanthropic needs. I enjoy working with a variety of clients – ranging from single young professionals with minimal assets to multimillionaire business owners with complex trusts. My firm has strong relationships with local and national trust companies to help administer all types and ranges of trusts. If my law firm can help you or your family with your estate planning, elder law, asset protection, business law needs, or digital estate planning, including a Walton GRAT, a GRIT, or other sophisticated trust planning, call me (913-707-9220) or email me (steve@johnsonlawkc.com) for a free, convenient appointment.

IRS CIRCULAR 230 Disclosure: Unless expressly stated otherwise, any U.S. federal tax advice contained in this blog post or links is not intended or written by Johnson Law KC LLC to be used to avoid IRS or other tax penalties, and any tax advice cannot be used to avoid penalties that may be imposed by the IRS.

(c) 2013, Stephen M. Johnson, Esq.

Supreme Court Applies Valuation Misstatement Penalties

Posted on by under Estate & Trust Litigation, Estate Planning, Estate Tax, Family Limited Partnerships, Financial Powers of Attorney, Income Tax, Kansas, LLCs, Missouri, Trusts, Wills

The U.S. Supreme Court unanimously decided this morning, per Justice Antonin Scalia‘s pen, that an IRS penalty applies for misstating a value on property (U.S. v. Gary Woods, 2013), reversing the Texas-based federal 5th Circuit Court of Appeals. Mr Woods and his employer, Mr McCombs, participated in an income-offsetting tax shelter in the 1990s marketed to high income earners. The tax shelter used a complicated series of investments and partnership interests to reduce their income for tax purposes. The district court found their partnership a sham – not surprising, since partnerships or corporations must have a legitimate business purpose, and avoiding taxes isn’t a legitimate business purpose. (Partnerships, corporations, or LLCs with legitimate business purposes are great for streamlining taxes, but the IRS doesn’t allow shams just to lower the tax bill. Lowering your taxes can be the icing, but you need a cake underneath the frosting, not just a pile of frosting you dub a “cake.”) But the courts wrestled with interpreting the IRS Code: the taxpayers had misstated property values. Could the IRS penalize them for misstating property values (e.g. “you lied about the value, and now owe a penalty for your dishonesty”), or would the IRS say “oops, you wrote down the wrong number, just pay us the difference”? The Supreme Court decided 9-0 that the IRS could penalize them for misstating the property value. The moral of Woods is the IRS can exact penalties for misstating property values, so be sure you have accurate appraisals and carefully prepare or review your tax filings. While Woods has some nice statutory interpretation quotes that legal eagles will enjoy (Justice Scalia has strong views on interpreting texts and statutes that often surface in scathing and witty dissents on various cultural issues, and is a lively writer and speaker – see A Matter of Interpretation (1997), Making Your Case (2008), and Reading Law (2012)), it’s not clear that Woods will have much impact beyond deciding that the IRS can penalize misstatements in property value.

My firm has experience working with individuals and families throughout the business and estate planning processes. If my law firm can help you or your family with your estate planning, elder law, asset protection, business law needs, or digital estate planning, call me (913-707-9220) or email me (steve@johnsonlawkc.com) for a free, convenient appointment.

IRS CIRCULAR 230 Disclosure: Unless expressly stated otherwise, any U.S. federal tax advice contained in this blog post or links is not intended or written by Johnson Law KC LLC to be used to avoid IRS or other tax penalties, and any tax advice cannot be used to avoid penalties that may be imposed by the IRS.

(c) 2013, Stephen M. Johnson, Esq.

Estate Planning and Relationships

Posted on by under Business Succession Planning, Business Transitions, Digital Estate Planning, Dynasty Trusts, Elder Law, Estate Tax, Family Business, Family Limited Partnerships, Financial Powers of Attorney, Gift Tax, IRA, Kansas, Living Wills, LLCs, Medical Powers of Attorney, Missouri, Prenups, Probate, Retirement, Roth IRA, Small Business, Trusts, Wills

About a month ago, I had the pleasure of attending a wedding of two dear friends. A month or so before the wedding, I shared some advice with the groom (I’ve shared the same advice with other friends over the years). Every bride and groom encounter various financial, tax, and legal questions in the busy and chaotic wedding planning time and after the honeymoon’s over and the new couple adjusts to life together. Good planning is crucial. Nobel Laureate T.S. Eliot memorably wrote, “What we call the beginning is often the end/And to make an end is to make a beginning./The end is where we start from.” (The Four Quartets, Little Gidding, V). True with estate planning as with many endeavors in life. So what’s the end game? Start from there to figure out how to get there. 

Pre-wedding tips:

  • Don’t buy your fiancé expensive gifts in his or her name. Whether a car, house/condo, jewelry, vacations, clothes, furniture, artwork, antiques, or other big ticket items, wait until you’re married. Federal law allows you to give your fiancé a gift of up to $14,000 tax free per year, but if the item costs $14,001, you’ll owe gift tax and have to file a gift tax return (not fun or romantic). The IRS says a gift is anything you receive without paying fair market value. (Kansas and Missouri don’t have state gift taxes.) Instead buy the item in your name and give it to your spouse once you’re married, as husbands and wives can give each other unlimited gifts without tax consequences.
  • Don’t add your fiancé to real estate deeds until you’re married. Again, any gift (like a house or farm) over $14,000 will cost you gift tax and require filing a return with the IRS.
  • Don’t pay off your fiancé’s credit cards, car or student loans before you’re married. Gifts are romantic, but gift taxes aren’t. Wait until you’re married.

After the wedding:

  • Execute living wills, and durable medical and financial powers of attorney. These are inexpensive, but vital documents that can last for decades. Your spouse can’t talk with your doctor, authorize surgery, or make financial decisions for you without these documents in place. My firm’s financial powers of attorney include cutting edge digital estate planning and elder law provisions, standard. My firm’s living wills and medical powers of attorney include HIPAA, HITECH, and Affordable Care Act (ObamaCare) privacy releases and can easily be custom tailored at no extra charge to reflect your beliefs and convictions about end of life treatment issues. (Having these done as a single person is wise, especially if you have health issues, travel frequently, or have various assets (family business stock or a small business, home mortgage, intellectual property, etc) – you can change your attorney in fact (or agent) quickly and inexpensively once you’re married.
  • Execute a will and/or trust. Simple, no-frills wills for a couple are economical. Wills that include a trust (testamentary trusts), or pourover wills that leave everything to a standalone trust are also affordable. Kansas law automatically invalidates an existing will when you get married and have a child. Missouri law is different. A will or trust allows you to leave specific instructions for how you want your financial affairs handled, how much your spouse and children receive, who cares for your child, and so on. Kansas and Missouri both allow a separate personal property list (highly recommended) to leave specific items to different family members or friends. Whether you’ve got $5,000 in student loans or $5 million in your stock portfolio, you need a will or trust. If you die intestate (without a will), your family will pay more for probate administration and endure a longer, more complex court process than if you have a will. And who wants the government to dictate how their things are distributed and who gets what? My firm has worked on dozens of probate estates in Kansas and Missouri, but it’s easier on everyone to plan ahead. Avoid LegalZoom, Rocket Lawyer, and other do-it-yourself books or websites – I’ve seen (and fixed) online/DIY documents for clients that any practicing attorney would’ve been embarrassed to have drafted. Like many other services, you get what you pay for – good planning requires expertise. My firm has the training and expertise to guide you through the process, leavened with friendly counsel.

A few other ideas for newlyweds:

  • Joint or separate bank accounts
  • Change IRA/retirement plan beneficiary to spouse
  • Change life insurance beneficiary to spouse
  • Car titles – joint or separate
  • Real estate – joint or separate – joint tenancy in Kansas or Missouri; tenancy by the entirety in Missouri
  • If you’re moving to another state once you’re married, you have about 30 days to change your driver’s license, legal name, etc

My firm has experience working with young professionals, young families, and newlyweds to make the estate planning simple, easy, and inexpensive. My firm also has experience working with high net worth individuals and families with tens of millions in assets, closely held businesses, real estate, and other issues. We provide reliable, easy to understand documents so you can rest easy and enjoy your life. Give me a call (913-707-9220) or email me (steve@johnsonlawkc.com) to schedule a convenient, free consultation.

IRS CIRCULAR 230 Disclosure: Unless expressly stated otherwise, any U.S. federal tax advice contained in this blog post or links is not intended or written by Johnson Law KC LLC to be used to avoid IRS or other tax penalties, and any tax advice cannot be used to avoid penalties that may be imposed by the IRS.

(c) 2013, Stephen M. Johnson, Esq.    

Billionaires Win Through the Financial Crisis

Posted on by under Business Succession Planning, Digital Estate Planning, Dynasty Trusts, Elder Law, Estate Planning, Family Business, Financial Powers of Attorney, Kansas, Living Wills, LLCs, Medical Powers of Attorney, Missouri, Probate, Small Business, Trusts, Wills

According to this CNBC story, most of America’s billionaires have done very well amid the financial crisis and its aftermath, known to the history books as the Great Recession. Billionaires’ combined global worth has doubled. 61% are self made. 87% are men. 86% are married. And they’re quite mobile, with an average of 4 homes and 2 children.

Most of us will never have to worry about being billionaires, but good financial and estate planning is important for everyone. If my law firm, Johnson Law KC LLC, can help you or your family with your estate planning, elder law, asset protection, business law needs, or digital estate planning, call me (913-707-9220) or email me (steve@johnsonlawkc.com) for a free, convenient appointment.

(c) 2013, Stephen M. Johnson, Esq.