Author: Lockhart Gardner

Disinheriting a person it sounds easy but in practice can be difficult to accomplish. The first step is to determine whether the disinherited person is in line to inherit anything in the first place. Put it in Writing Generally speaking, if a person does not create a Will or trust prior to death or incapacity (think stroke, dementia, Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s) that person’s wealth is...

Learn more about CunninghamLegal and attorney Jim Cunningham in this informative KAHI radio interview. Jim addresses the basics of estate planning, trust administration and the history of our firm.

When you think about the price of having kids, the costs that come to mind may include things like child care, camp, braces and college tuition. What probably doesn’t spring to mind are mortgages, car payments or personal loans. The reality, however, is that your bank account will likely continue to be tapped long past the day your kids turn 21. According to a 2015 Pew Research Center report,...

Each winter, a strange phenomenon repeats itself as people gather to celebrate the holiday season: Deaths spike. The surge was particularly extreme in early 2015, when nearly a third more senior citizens died than normal in the first two weeks of the New Year. Researchers have known for some time that more people die in winter. But even when they adjust for the expected increase, an...

Readers often ask me about do-it-yourself estate planning. Lawyers want to know how to discourage clients from using books or software and websites that spew out documents for free or for a fraction of what they charge. Meantime, consumers ask, “What’s wrong with that?” The trouble with do-it-yourself planning is that even if your situation seems simple, there are many oddball things a layman...

The Daily Beast, Mark Zuckerberg’s Charity Windfall In a Securities and Exchange Commission filing on Tuesday, Facebook founder and chief executive officer Mark Zuckerberg announced that he would gift “substantially all of his shares of Facebook stock” to “further the mission of advancing human potential and promoting equality by means of philanthropic, public advocacy and other activities for...

The elimination of two popular Social Security claiming strategies has left companies that offer Social Security advice scrambling to incorporate the new rules into their systems. Last week, Congress put an end to “file and suspend” and a restricted application for spousal benefits—Social Security strategies that together made it possible for both members of a couple who are 66 or older to...

It is a common concept to want companionship, and elders are no exception. Unfortunately, an elder with diminishing capacity can easily become a victim of financial abuse if they and/or their advocates are not careful to watch for the indicators of elder mistreatment. Here are a handful of possible indicators of elder financial abuse to be aware of and look for: Unpaid bills, eviction...

Good News! Recently, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) announced the new limits for estate and gift taxation. These are the amounts that you can give tax free during life or at death in your will or living trust. Unfortunately, the annual gift exclusion stays at $14,000 – the amount that you can give (per person, per year) without having to file a Form 709 gift tax return. This means a...