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Call UsIn Charitable Giving Part I, I outlined developments in the tax laws that impact charitable giving. As a generous group of people, the reason why we give is not solely for the tax deduction, right? S... continue reading »
Charitable Giving – Part 2
Charitable Giving – Part 1
Several years ago, I wrote an article about charitable giving, and it began with the statement: “We are a generous group of people”. I believe this remains true. In so many conversations with friends and family, I still hear of giving to charitable organizations in many ways, including time, ... continue reading »
Good Intentions
Many of us have thought about an estate plan and having some documents in place to help our family settle our estate after we pass away. Then life happens and we push that plan a little further down the list of “to dos.” Some of you have gone beyond thinking about it and have even had an ap... continue reading »
Financial Scams and Elder Financial Abuse
Unfortunately, we live during a time when financial scams are everywhere. Criminals target us with wide-ranging schemes through our cell phones, social media, and the mail. The ultimate goal is to steal money from us. We are well beyond the annoying phone calls from telemarketers at the dinner ho... continue reading »
Giving Your Home To Your Children
I often have the question from clients: Is it a good idea to transfer our home to our children before we die? It is important to understand what is driving this question to help us better advise clients.I often hear that parents want to avoid probate, provide some inheritance to children and they... continue reading »
How to Avoid Unintended Consequences
In previous articles, we have stressed the importance of a completing an estate plan, one that is tailored for you and your family. We have explained the positive benefits of putting key estate plan documents in place and how to integrate your assets through retitling and beneficiary designations... continue reading »
Lake Property Succession to the Next Generation of Owners
In past articles for this column, we have talked about how to ‘keep the lake cabin in the family’. For this article I will compare the use of a cabin trust vs. a cabin LLC. It’s important to note that this article addresses only a single component of an estate plan. A cabin trust or cabin L... continue reading »
Landlord-Tenant: Abandoned Property
I handle a lot of landlord-tenant issues, predominantly from the perspective of the landlord. What’s becoming more of an issue I am encountering is questions regarding what to do with abandoned personal property that remains on the premises following the tenant vacating, either voluntarily or t... continue reading »
Dying Intestate
Sometimes our procrastination gets the best of us. So many clients have said “we’ve been meaning to get our estate documents set up for YEARS.” For those of you that have made it to my office, cheers to you for checking that “to do” off your list. For those of you that still have it on ... continue reading »
Best Practices for Small Businesses #7-12
Eryn Slagle, a senior at the University of Minnesota Duluth, assisted in the writing of this article. When starting and operating a small business, it’s important to adopt best practices that will help make your business successful, profitable, and to avoid conflict and disputes. In today’... continue reading »