Education Savings Strategies You Might Not Know About
The Benefits of a 529 Education Savings Plan
Named after a section of the tax code enacted two decades ago, 529 education savings plans are a tax-advantaged plan that encourages parents to save money for their children’s education. Although contributions are not deductible, the invested assets can grow free of federal and state taxes. There are two types of 529 plans – one lets you pre-pay...
Maximizing the Value of Inherited IRAs
Stretching an inherited IRA is extremely valuable to the beneficiary. Learn what that means.
An inherited IRA, or “beneficiary IRA”, is an account that gets opened when someone inherits an IRA after the death of its owner. The beneficiary may open an inherited IRA from any variety of eligible IRAs, from Roth and rollover to Simple IRAs and SEPs. This IRA beneficiary is subject to required...
Do All Estates Need Probate?
In California, a full probate is not necessary if someone dies with under $150,000 in assets. For example, say, Joe Client dies owning a bank account in his name worth $130,000 and no other assets. The beneficiaries (i.e., the ones getting Joe’s stuff under his will or intestacy if there is no will) complete what is called a “Small Estate Affidavit” and give it to the bank. Upon receiving the...
Grass Valley, Nevada City, Lake Wildwood, Penn Valley and Alta Sierra Residents – Did You Know?
If you are a resident of Grass Valley, Nevada City, Lake Wildwood, Penn Valley or Alta Sierra, you now have more choices when selecting your Estate Planning attorney. The areas in and around Grass Valley and Nevada City already have living trust attorney’s in town, but just a short drive down Highway 49, in beautiful, historic Auburn, you will find CunninghamLegal. For those who are not...
Have a Trust? Now fill it up!
If you have a living trust, you probably think that you will avoid probate. Well, that may be true, but having a stack of documents you call a trust is not enough to do the job, you have to now put assets in your trust. Imagine your living trust is a bucket. Once you sign your trust, you have an empty bucket, but you can now start filling it with your stuff.
How do you fill your bucket? Let’s...
Welcome Fredrick J. Weitkamp Clients
Fredrick J. Weitkamp Clients – Welcome to CunninghamLegal
On April 1, 2018, the Law Offices of Fredrick J. Weitkamp joined the CunninghamLegal family when Mr. Weitkamp began his well deserved retirement. For those who may have missed his letter to his clients, we’ve included it below:
Dear Client:
For some 50 years, I have had the pleasure and privilege of serving you and other...
What happens when you die?
“In this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes,” Benjamin Franklin once wrote in a letter.
Unfortunately, those words are just as true today as they were in the 1700s.
Worse, sometimes the two come as a package deal.
After all, when someone dies, their family members must go through a lengthy series of tax, financial, and legal steps in order to...
Medical Tax Deductions – 2018
The deduction for qualified medical expenses has survived yet another round of tax reform. The IRS will allow a tax payer to deduct expenses that exceed 7.5% of their adjusted gross income for 2017 and 2018. Beginning in 2019, all taxpayers may deduct only the amount of the total unreimbursed allowable medical care expenses for the year that exceeds 10% of their adjusted gross income.
For...
VA Disbursements have Increased
Helen Justice, Geriatric Care Manager, at Advanced Wellness, published an informative article on updates to VA disbursements:
Are you a War-Time Veteran or Widow of War Time Veteran?
There are Financial Benefits available for War Time Veteran and Widow of War Time Veteran to help defray the cost for senior placement Assisted Living Facilities, Board and Care Homes, and In-Home Care. There is a...