Posted on Mon, Dec 28, 2009
Due to the strains of the economy, housing and job markets, many of my clients have been asking about loan modifications. President Obama created a plan to make it easier for current home owners to "amend" their current mortgages with their mortgage holder. This allowed some borrowers to decrease their interest, payments or time left on their mortgage with supposedly little damage. However, the effect of the modification didn't take into account what would happen to an already shaky credit score. Here is a great article from CNN-Money that will give you something to think about if you are planning on attempting to modify your loan in the future.
Mortgage Rescue: Credit Score Killer
Despite its potentially negative effects, sometime this is the best option when you are trying to save your house and keep your estate.
Posted on Fri, Dec 11, 2009
We understand that the people that will be doing research for estate planning on the internet are usually looking for a loved one, who is a little less internet savvy. So in additional to our article on "How To Talk To Your Parents About Their Estate Plan", here is an article we found at caring.com on what types of questions you should be asking your parents. We found these questions to be quite pertinent and relative.
Posted on Mon, Dec 07, 2009
Here is a great article from the Minnesota Post in regards to the extension of the current estate tax limits. Essentially what is happening is that the current estate tax rate will increase to 55%, up from 45% currently, in 2011 unless the Senate votes on a reform prior to December 31st of this year.
Do you need to worry? Most of us don't, now, but you may in the future. The estate tax currently only comes into play with estates over $3.5 million for individuals or $7 million for couples. According to the article this only affects 1 in 500 estates. However, the estate tax is scheduled to decrease to any estate over $1 million by 2011! When you factor in your home value, investments and personal belongings, this could affect many of us.
The government is always making changes to how wealth is transferred in this country. Keeping informed is your best line of defense. Let us know if you have any other questions or if this increase will affect your estate.
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Posted on Wed, Dec 02, 2009
I have been seeing a lot of questions on blogs recently about what a special-needs or supplemental-needs trust is.
If your child (or other beneficiary) were to become legally disabled and started getting government payments before he got his inheritance, all government payments stop until all of the inheritance is used up for his care.
Our estate plan corrects this problem by inserting a SUPPLEMENTAL-NEEDS TRUST for your disabled beneficiary into your trust. This type of trust allows him to continue getting government benefits. His inheritance money then can be used by the successor trustee to pay for things that the government won't provide such as clothing, a car, etc. This means that your legacy is being used to improve your beneficiary's life and not just delaying government benefits.