“You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with.” Jim Rohn I’ve been thinking about Jim Rohn’s quote a lot lately. Have you ever had something floating around in your head and then you hear it again and again in different places? The impetus for this blog was casual conversation […]

When we think of income taxes, we think of how much we earn. But, another aspect of income tax is the gain or loss on assets. Income tax basis is central to how assets are taxed in the United States. This is the first of a series on income tax basis. This blog will examine […]

Email marketing is one of the most important marketing tools at your disposal. It allows you to connect with your target audience, building relationships with clients and prospects in a personalized way, at an affordable cost. However, before you can begin sharing your marketing messages, you’ll need to start with a subscriber list. List Building Whether […]

In the past, trusts were drafted with little flexibility and Trust Protectors didn’t exist. However, over the past 50 years, trusts have been drafted with increased flexibility and Trust Protectors are now common. There are even ways under the laws of most states to change “irrevocable” trusts. While the Trustee is the person who manages […]

The topic of staffing ranks high on the list of topics that cause most law firm owners to cringe and some to bury their heads in the sand because they simply don’t know how to fix the problem if staffing isn’t going well. We’re hosting a webinar on September 18 for non-Member attorneys where we […]

Some people plan their estates carefully. Some people don’t have an estate plan at all. That’s called dying intestate. In that situation, the state in which they live at their death has a default plan for them which determines who gets their assets. The state’s plan might suit them, or it might not suit them […]

Many items within a household can affect the overall value of the estate. These items include art, jewelry, collectibles, antiques, musical instruments, and the house itself. Appraisals provide a snapshot in time of each item’s value. This helps estate planning attorneys to accurately structure equitable distribution of assets as dictated by the client. Appraising Art […]

This is the fourth in a series focusing on planning for children. The first article was focused on the importance of planning if you have step-children. The second article focused on the importance of planning if you have “special needs” children. The third article focused on planning for education expenses in general. This fourth article […]

When you’re setting up your website for your law firm, you have a big decision to make: the domain name, AKA the address that web users will type in to find you. While you may be tempted to just use your firm’s name as the domain name, that may not be the very best approach […]

Often, people think they’ll have a warning before death and they’ll be able to plan once they get the warning. They think of life almost like a traffic signal. They think they are born with a green light. When they get old or get a serious illness it turns yellow. When death is imminent, the […]