It would be great if an estate plan were something you could just set and forget, but life rarely works that way. Many people take responsible action and develop an estate plan that will provide tax savings and protect their assets for their spouses and children. If...
Bay Area Estate And Tax Planning Law Firm
Month: June 2015
What happens if you don’t meet the June 30 FBAR deadline? p2
We are circling back to our discussion of the Internal Revenue Service's recent memorandum clarifying (or attempting to clarify) how penalties are decided for foreign bank account reporting violations. In our June 17 post, we also warned that the June 30 deadline for...
Don’t wait to respond to an IRS notice
It the thing nobody wants to get in the mail: a letter from the IRS informing the recipient that there is a problem with a previous income tax return. Whether the letter is announcing an audit, or asking for more information to explain an apparent discrepancy, it is...
Have your rights as a trust beneficiary been ignored?
As a trust beneficiary, you have rights, which may depend largely on the language of the trust document. The complexity and length of the document are, in many case, intimidating for the trust beneficiary. If you suspect that your rights as a beneficiary have been...
What happens if you don’t meet the June 30 FBAR deadline?
The IRS takes its filing deadlines seriously, but the agency does not make it easy to remember the finer points of each due date. April 15, for example, is the deadline for filing income tax returns. By deadline, the IRS means that the return must be mailed by 11:59...
Though odds are low, consider these things to avoid an audit
Most people know that once a year, they are required to submit documentation to the federal government as well as the state for their tax return. They also know that if they fail to report things properly, they could be audited by the IRS and suffer penalties as a...
A brief reflection on retirement planning and taxes 2
We are still talking about -- or, as a 12-year-old niece would say, still talking about -- sales tax and its impact on estate planning. We admit that 12-year-olds may not be the only ones that were hoping for more drama here -- trust us, if we could think of a way to...
A brief reflection on retirement planning and taxes
Are there more taxes in retirement that are dreamt of in your estate plan? When we talk about planning for our golden years, we talk about sources of income and how to plan for emergencies. Many of us have sat through difficult dinner table conversations about...
Grantor, trustee, beneficiary…What do all the terms mean?
You've probably already heard about the benefits of a trust -- how it's much like a will except for the fact that your loved ones don't have to navigate the probate process when you pass away. You probably also know that a trust may potentially save your heirs a...