Transferring a retirement account to beneficiaries seems simple enough. Certainly your fund manager or financial planner will tell you it is—all you have to do is fill out the beneficiary designation form they provide to you. But is it really that simple? Well, in a sense yes. If you complete the beneficiary designation form by […]
The NC courts have again spoken in the ongoing war between LegalZoom and the NC Bar. LegalZoom assists people in creating their own legal documents through an interactive website. The NC State Bar claims they are practicing law without a license. The responses to all of this vary from ‘LegalZoom is a scam that […]
Well, it is a New Year. And one of the joys of a New Year is new tax laws. So just in time for New Year’s fun, here is a brief look at tax changes for 2014:
Clients contact us all the time convinced they “only need a simple will”. Now, in lawyer-speak, a “simple will” is a will which contains no testamentary trusts. But this is not necessarily what is being asked for.
It is not breaking news that North Carolina seems to be making a point of not recognizing marriages between same-sex partners. It also is not breaking news that there are other states that are recognizing these marriages, and there are some conflicts between the laws of the states, between Federal law and the laws of […]
The North Carolina Court of Appeals opinion filed earlier this month (October 2013) in Charlotte Motor Speedway v County of Cabarrus was presented by the local media as the most recent scene in the ongoing pathetic and droll soap opera that is the feud between Bruton Smith and CMS on the one hand and Cabarrus […]
Based upon George Barr McCutcheon’s 1902 novel of the same name, Brewster’s Millions is the story of Minor League Baseball pitcher Monty Brewster (Richard Pryor). Though unintended, the story is a useful lesson in estate planning. Well, we’re going to use it for that purpose anyway and how North Carolina laws apply to estate planning, […]
The Internal Revenue Service on Friday (8/29/2013) ruled that same-sex couples who have legally wed in jurisdictions that recognize same-sex marriage will be treated as married for federal tax purposes, even if they live in a jurisdiction that does not recognize their marriage as valid. Revenue Ruling 2013-17 implements federal tax aspects of the June […]
The 2013 standard mileage rates for business purposes, and medical and moving purposes show modest increases from 2012 levels. Beginning on Jan. 1, 2013, the standard mileage rates for the use of a car (also vans, pickups or panel trucks) will be as follows: 56.5 cents per mile for business miles driven, 24 cents per […]
Video wills look really cool in the movies. And they are increasing in popularity, especially as the number of people with their degree in TV law are deciding this is the way to go. And of course technology makes it easy to do. And it is cool! But TV and movies notwithstanding, video wills are […]