Don't Miss This Important Deadline!
 | | G. Ward Beaudry |
For clients and friends of our firm, we want you to be aware of big changes looming on the horizon that may affect your ability to pass assets and gifts on to your loved ones. The current $5 million exemption for estate and gift tax will revert back to $1 million if Congress does nothing by January 1. While we cannot predict, the current gridlock in Congress is not a good sign for passing new legislation by year-end. With deficits rising, this very well could become a political football no one wants to pick up.
What does that mean to you? Your assets worth over $1 million may turn into pumpkins next January at an astounding 55% tax rate to your beneficiaries. Under current rules, anyone can give away or leave behind as much as $5.12 million with no federal gift or estate tax consequences. (FYI, estate and gift taxes are different, but right now their rates and exemption levels are the same.)
If you DO own assets over $1 million, you should be preparing an estate plan now in case the exemptions are rolled back. According to a recent article in the Dallas Morning News, "You don't want to wait until the election, because you won't have time to get appraisals, to get property transferred, to form trusts, to move assets," says Jim Smith, Managing Director of Smith, Jackson, Boyer & Bovard PLLC in Dallas.
Unfortunately, too many people believe that estate planning is only for the super-wealthy. Yet many people reading this, when you throw in the value of your home, probably have assets above the $1 million mark.
Quick question:
- A: Are you comfortable with the idea of potentially losing 55% of your assets,
- B: OR do you prefer passing on your hard-earned assets you've acquired over a lifetime?
If you answered B, there's really no downside to putting assets in trust, other than the time to meet with us and the reasonable fees to draw up the paperwork. If both you AND Congress choose not to act, you'll kick yourself come January 2. You won't have any way of knowing whether you need this until it is too late to act.
We've seen numerous articles that predict estate planning attorneys will be so buried in work, you won't be able to get an appointment before year-end. (See recent article on CNBC News.) Yes, we've seen an uptick of interest so we are reaching out to our clients and friends NOW so that you don't get caught at year-end. I can answer any questions you have on the phone or would be happy to set up an appointment to review your situation.
Contact me today at
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Back to School Checklist
 | | Alexander G. Blue |
In the flurry of preparing the kids or grandkids for going to college, I'd like to provide a different sort of back-to-school checklist, from an attorney's point of view. This one may prove to be far more important in the long term than the typical list of dorm supplies and toiletries. You may not agree, but the medical and legal community consider your child an adult when he or she turns 18. These recommendations will help prepare your student for adulthood.
1. Most parents find out too late they cannot make medical or legal decisions in the case of an emergency for their college-age children. Recommendation: ALL parents should have a Durable Power of Attorney and Medical Power of Attorney for each child 18 or older. These simple, affordable legal tools can help you avoid considerable heartache should an emergency arise. Call NOW to get these documents in place before school starts--we can turn them around in a few days.
2. Does your college-bound child know how to access healthcare? Review with them what to do in case a medical or dental emergency arises. With all the germs floating around dorms and classrooms, students often come down with something serious, especially during the stressful freshman year. Too often, students ignore a potentially dangerous illness because they are away from home and the family doctor.
3. Does your child have a current insurance card in his/her wallet?
4. Does your child have a chronic medical condition such as allergies, asthma or diabetes? Be sure they carry an alert or some other form of notification on their person at all times for medical personnel. Order one now! Here's a great selection from Amazon.com ranging from nice-looking jewelry to sports IDs.
5. Does your student know what to do in case they lose their ID, insurance card, credit cards, etc? Take time now to scan and upload valuable documents into a secure Internet file storage site that can be accessed by family members from anywhere. Here is a great and current list of recommended free filesharing websites from Tripwire magazine. It's smart to coach your child to use this same site to back up important school projects and papers. No more "dog ate my homework" excuses!
6. Review a working budget with your student, and be sure they have a realistic grasp of spending and cash flow needs--to save you from major headaches and late-night phone calls. One very popular and FREE budgeting and spending software is Mint.com. Young people seem to like this better than the old-school Quicken. Mint is very user-friendly and comes with a smartphone app that lets you keep up with your budget whereever you are. Share the password?
7. As a working attorney, I've witnessed firsthand the dangers of social media postings gone wild. Young people seem to think they have some sort of immunity when it comes to revealing late-night antics. Social media postings have been successfully subpoenaed as evidence in court proceedings, and more employers are snooping into Facebook records as a routine pre-hire screening. Better safe than sorry. This may take all the fun out of it, but it might be worth suggesting not to post anything you wouldn't want Mom to read.
8. It amazes me how many young adults don't understand that if they mess up in college, they may not be able to run for public office, OR qualify for a decent job after college. Something like a DUI can disqualify a smart kid from a number of professional careers, such as the law, finance and civil service. Might be worth a mention...
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Help Give Back
"We make a living by what we get, we make a life by what we give," said Winston Churchill in one of our favorite quotations. Our firm prides itself in community involvement, so we wanted to call your attention to a few upcoming events from some of our favorite organizations. Click on the links for more information:
Sign up as an individual or team to help raise the goal of $4.2 million to fund heart research.
Join Alex and Ward along with their spouses as the North Texas Military Association (NTXMA) proudly presents its first annual all-branch military ball. You are cordially invited to join us as we say THANKS and celebrate with our fellow veterans and community patriots. The 2012 Military Ball is a coming together of brothers-in-arms and patriots to help better our community. This black-tie event supports the Veterans Walk of Honor and the Student Veterans of America - Collin College Chapter.
October 8: Annual Family Compass Golf Tournament
As a founding Board member of this fine organization, Ward encourages all golfers to support this fun tournament benefitting Family Compass (formerly Child Abuse Prevention Center). The Tourney is held at Brookhaven Country Club.
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Thank you for your time today. Please contact us if you have any questions or comments.
G. Ward Beaudry, Esq. Alexander G. Blue, Esq
4200 Thanksgiving Tower
1601 Elm Street
Dallas, Texas 75201-7203
This E-letter is intended to stimulate thought and discussion, and to provide you with some useful ideas and guidance in the areas of estate planning and business law. The materials and comments made herein do not constitute and should not be treated as legal advice regarding the use of any particular estate or business planning or other technique, device or suggestion or any of the tax or other consequences associated with them. Although we have made every effort to ensure the accurancy of this information, Winn, Beaudry & Winn does not assume any responsibility for any individual's reliance on the information presented in this document. Each reader should verify independently all statements made in this E-letter before applying them to a particular situation and should determine independently the tax and other consequences of using any particular device, technique or suggestion before recommending it to others.
The information contained in this electronic message is legally privileged and confidential under applicable law and the information may be protected from disclosure under the Attorney-Client Privilege and/or the Attorney Work Product Privilege. This electronic message is intended only for the use of the individual(s) or entity named above. If the recipient of this message is not the above-named intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any dissemination, copy or disclosure of this communication is strictly prohibited and may carry criminal and/or civil penalties and civil liabilities for unauthorized disclosure, dissemination or copying. If you have received this communication in error, please notify Winn, Beaudry & Winn at (214) 969-0001 and purge the communication immediately from your computer system without making any copy or distribution.
Treasury Circular 230 Required Statements:
Tax practitioners authorized to practice before the Internal Revenue Service are subject to the requirements of "Circular 230" (31 CFR part 10), as published by the Treasury Department. The Treasury Department has made significant changes to Circular 230, effective June 20, 2005, that affect the form and content of tax advice that we provide. In order to comply with these new changes, while minimizing the cost to our clients, we are including the following statements in all of our e-mail communications. If you have any question about the statements, please do not hesitate to contact the sender.
1. Any tax advice contained in this e-mail (including any attachments) was not intended or written by the sender of this e-mail to be used, and cannot be used by the recipient or any other person, for the purpose of avoiding any Internal Revenue Code penalties that may be imposed on such person.
2. Any tax advice contained in this e-mail (including any attachments) was not intended or written by the sender of this e-mail to be used or referred to, and cannot be used or referred to, in promoting, marketing, or recommending the transaction(s) or matter(s) addressed herein.
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News!
On August 23, G. Ward Beaudry will again be a featured speaker at an upcoming seminar at the National Business Institute: Resolving Legal and Financial Issues in Elder Care. This day-long seminar focuses on topics such as planning for long-term healthcare and protecting the assets of the elderly. The seminar will be held at Cityplace in Dallas from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. For more information or to register, click here.
Alexander G. Blue
was just approved by the Veterans Administration as a VA Accredited Attorney. VA accreditation is required to assist veterans with any benefits or pension claims. Now, along with G. Ward Beaudry, Alex is equipped to handle veterans' benefits cases. As veterans themselves, they both enjoy working with fellow vets to ensure they receive the maximum benefits entitled to them by law.
Alex also just joined the Dallas Estate Planning Council. This nonprofit provides ongoing education on estate planning and keeps members up-to-date on the latest tools and techniques.
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Did You Know?
G. Ward Beaudry was recently named to Texas' Top Lawyers in the Estate Planning category. Visit Texas' Top-Rated Lawyers 2012 Edition. Beaudry earned this honor as a result of consistently maintaining the highest possible "AV Preeminent" rating by Martindale Hubbell, the nation's oldest and most prestigious attorney rating service.
Alexander G. Blue was recently named a Texas Monthly "Rising Star" for the third year. This award is given to the top 2.5% of Texas lawyers age 40 and younger. Selections are made based on evaluation of 12 indicators of peer recognition and professional achievement.
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