Current Affairs

As a family member or trustee for a decedent, you are often managing mail on behalf of your loved one. While it is quite common to receive checks made payable to a decedent, it is always important to note the source of the income to determine if it is collectable or not. Case in point: the stimulus checks that many Americans are receiving right now. The IRS has issued guidance stating that the...

On January 1, 2020, the SECURE Act (Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement) went into effect. The bill is the most significant reform to retirement legislation in decades and dramatically changes how your IRA and retirement benefits are treated post-death. The most immediate impact of the bill will be felt by those nearing or in retirement.  For most people, a retirement account...

–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...

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....

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...

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...