Blog Posts: Estate Planning

Congress enacted the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2015 (“BBA”) under which existing partnership audit rules have been replaced. The new BBA audit rules are broad and complex and effective for partnership tax returns filed for tax years beginning in 2018. Under the prior audit rules, the tax liability flowed through to each partner. Under the new audit r...

The overhaul of the Internal Revenue Code was passed by Congress on December 21, 2017 and signed into law by the President.  Many changes become effective January 1, 2018.  Although 2017 is almost over, the following are some actions to consider taking now to potentially save taxes.   Before the end of 2017 consider taking the following actions:Pa...

Tax Consequences of Foreclosure-with a HELOC It is common for homeowners to have a house that is "upside down", many with first and second mortgages. Houses that were purchased a number of years ago appreciated rapidly in a short period of time and it was easy to pull on the home's equity by securing an equity line of credit. That equity may have been used for many...

Tax Consequences of Foreclosure or Short Sale of Personal Residence in Arizona It is difficult to read any economic news or watch a local TV news program without seeing the prevalence of foreclosures and short sales of personal residences in Arizona.  It is not uncommon in today's economic crisis to own a home that was purchased in the last five years that is subs...

Why Young Adults Need Power of Attorneys  When children turn 18, they legally become adults.  If there was a catastrophic life event which rendered them unable to make their own life decisions, their parents no longer have any legal rights.  If the young adult becomes seriously ill or disabled, it may require a court appointed guardian to make finan...

In an economic downturn, individuals and business owners may question whether or not it is a good investment to spend time and resources on an estate or business succession plan. Actually, it is an excellent time. First, business may have slowed down enough for the owners to focus on the next generation ownership and secondly, your estate may be able to take advan...

Video Transcript: Hi, I'm Beth Cohn, an attorney here at Jaburg Wilk and I help people plan their estates. No matter where you are in your life, estate planning is essential. Estate planning includes wills, trusts, and powers of attorney. If you have just started your family and are at the beginning of your career, a will is critical. In the event of your untimely...

No one wants to contemplate becoming seriously ill or disabled, but the reality is this difficult subject needs to be addressed with spouses, significant others and family members. It is important to make decisions regarding what wishes are while healthy.  The Arizona Secretary of State allows you to register, free of charge, living wills and medical power of atto...

While developing a business succession plan is essential for every business, it is often lost in the day to day focus of business operations. It is vital for family owned or closely held businesses to have a clear, concise and documented succession plan. Family owned businesses may provide unique challenges. Typically, the founders would like to pass the business ...

If you were a married couple living Arizona, you had three options as how to hold the title to real property in Arizona.  The choices were:community property, joint tenants with right of survivorship ("JTWROS") and tenants in common.Now, under A.R.S. § 33-431, there is a fourth option - community property with right of survivorship ("CPWROS"). Histor...