The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act is Finally Here, No More Do Overs
–Our friends at Marcum, LLP recently published a detailed article on the new tax plan.–
Highlights of key provisions include the following:
Individual Provisions
The act’s final version retains the seven overall tax brackets, but tax cuts are achieved by cutting the rates themselves. The final version cuts the top rate to 37% as follows:
Filing Status
Rates
Single...
The Sydney Law Firm, P.C. Clients – Welcome to CunninghamLegal
Welcome to CunninghamLegal – The Living Trust Lawyers
On September 1st, 2017, The Sydney Law Firm, P.C. was acquired by CunninghamLegal. Jeff Sydney and his wife, Alicia, decided it was the the right time for them to retire and pass the baton to our firm to serve his clients.
We are honored that Jeff Sydney has entrusted his successful, long-standing practice to us at CunninghamLegal....
Estate Planning. It’s Not for Everybody. So Who’s It For?
CunninghamLegal – The Living Trust Lawyers
“Estate Planning” is a general phrase that most people associate with planning for the end of one’s life. While that basic definition is a good place to start, estate planning goes far beyond just planning for the distribution of assets upon death. It also includes planning for periods of incapacity, healthcare decision making, Medi-Cal...
Trust Protector. Like a Superhero.
CunninghamLegal – The Living Trust Lawyers
Trust Protector. Like a Superhero: The American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys offers insight on the subject of Trust Protectors. In the Estate Planning practice in the United States the Trust Protector is a relatively new concept. Originally started in England, it made it’s way to the United States only recently. As a result, not...
Incapacity – Snow White and the Seven Steps
CunninghamLegal – The Living Trust Lawyers
Incapacity is generally defined as lacking the ability to make decisions for oneself. This can occur due to a mental impairment or a physical disability or illness, which prevents a person from having the ability to communicate their reasonable decisions to others. Like most people, Snow White did not know that she would become incapacitated....
Your Estate Planning Binder Misses You
CunninghamLegal – The Living Trust Lawyers
For some people, a sighting of their estate planning binder is as rare as seeing Bigfoot in line at your local Starbucks. The binder is often initially reviewed and then is stored away for various reasons; to protect the documents, to protect confidential information contained in the documents, or to prevent one from having to think about the...
A Second Chance to Double Your Tax Exemption
CunninghamLegal – The Living Trust Lawyers
The IRS just issued Revenue Procedure 2017-34, which, for a limited time, has extended the deadline to file for portability elections. The American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012 (enacted in 2013) provided people with the process of “Portability” where a surviving spouse “inherits” the unused Federal Estate Tax Exemption of their predeceased spouse...
Your Home & Medi-Cal. When Your Home Is Exempt
CunninghamLegal – The Living Trust Lawyers
This is an informative article from California Advocates for Nursing Home Reform (CANHR) on how your home and other assets impact Medi-Cal eligibility.
CANHR Website
Medi-Cal eligibility requires that an applicant (and his/her spouse) have a limited amount of assets. Your home is exempt from consideration as a resource when you or your spouse...
Trust Administration. What’s That?
CunninghamLegal – The Living Trust Lawyers
Trust Administration – What’s that?
This is a question we get on occasion from clients. The terms trust administration or trust settlement refer to the process of following through with the trust provisions and distributions after someone has died. This process may involve helping the trustees (often a family member) with gathering and...
9 Things to Do After Your Email is Hacked
CunninghamLegal – The Living Trust Lawyers
Email hacking has been in the news a lot, and while most of us don’t have information that rises to the level of national security, we still want to protect our privacy.
If your email gets hacked, do these nine things:
Change your password to a more secure one,
Go to the help section for your ISP for advice,
Report it to your ISP,
Notify your...