Lizzie Borden took an axe and gave her mother forty whacks. When she saw what she had done, she gave her father forty-one. Andrew Jackson Borden and Abby Durfee Gray were murdered on August 4, 1892. Abby died first at approximately 9:30 a.m., after being struck 18-19 times with a hatchet or sharp instrument. Approximately …
Paul Allen, co-founder of Microsoft, passed away on October 15, 2018. He led an amazing life full of accomplishments that would span several blogs. Some noteworthy items include being the sole investor of SpaceShipOne suborbital commercial spacecraft, redeveloping the South Lake Union neighborhood of Seattle, owning the Seattle Seahawks and Portland Trail Blazers and donating …
If you have been following all the changes in the estate and gift tax exclusion amount over the past several years, you probably know that you can now give away – during your life, or on your death – $10,000,000 (adjusted for inflation) estate and gift tax free. The actual amount in 2019 is $11,400,000, …
The IRS announced in Revenue Procedure 2018-57 that the 2019 gift tax annual exclusion will remain at $15,000 and the estate and gift exemption amount will rise to $11,400,000 per person, or $22,800,000 per couple, in 2019. In 2019, you can gift up to $15,000 to another person using the annual gift exclusion and without …
The IRS has released the annual gift tax exclusion. For 2018 and 2019, the amount is increasing to $15,000. What does this mean for gifts you make? Each year, you can gift up to $15,000 per person before the gift is considered taxable and without being required to file a gift tax return (Form 709). …
Who hasn’t purchased a lottery ticket and then spent the next few days, or the remaining hours before the big draw, dreaming about how you will spend the millions of dollars you are going to win. All the extravagant vacations, homes, cars, opportunities to share with family and friends, dance before your eyes! But are …
Aretha Franklin, the Queen of Soul, passed away on August 16, 2018. Her four sons filed court documents with the Oakland County Probate Court in Michigan. In those documents, they acknowledged that their mother did not have a will. It seems to be a trend with famous singer/songwriters to put off their estate planning until …
As a former probate attorney, I’ve seen some interesting things. One memory that sticks out is receiving a last will and testament with red splotches on it. I told myself it was from candy and that the deceased person must have had a sugar addiction like me. Nonetheless, I quickly scanned the original to my …
Congress did everyone a favor last year and raised the estate tax exemption to the lofty heights of $11,180,000 per person. As a result, very, very few people will owe an estate tax on death under the current law. So, while a couple can die with as much as $22,360,000 and not owe any federal …
If you are a spouse, child or parent of someone who has died, you may qualify for Social Security benefits. To get spousal benefits, the deceased family member must have worked long enough under Social Security to qualify. A worker can earn up to four credits each year. In 2018, when a worker earns $5,280, …