A properly funded trust will avoid probate upon your death and provide management of your assets without court involvement should you become disabled or incapacitated. Although your Last Will and Testament may provide that all assets spill over into your trust for further disposition, that occurs only after they pass through probate. Assets under the trust umbrella need… Read More »
Effective this year, converting from one’s traditional IRA (or other qualified plans such as 401k, 403b and 457) to a Roth IRA is available to everyone. There are benefits and burdens of conversion, and the purpose of this article is to provide you with several things you should consider when converting to a Roth IRA. When you convert… Read More »
The reason you choose to enroll with a debt solutions company is to get out of debt. However, if you choose the wrong company your debt problems could get worse. Recently, some states have enacted laws to regulate debt solutions firms, while other states are in the process of enacting these kinds of laws. Here are 5 of… Read More »
Any trust, in effect, is a written agreement between the grantor and the trustee on how the trustee will manage funds contributed by the grantor on behalf of the beneficiary. A special needs trust adds complications to this arrangement because the beneficiary often cannot guide the trustee on her needs and the trustee may have to be careful… Read More »
As a trademark attorney and the founder of Gerben Law Firm and TrademarkArmor.com, every day I hear from clients whose trademarks have been rejected by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). Many of these clients used one of the non-legal services for trademark registration offered via the Internet — with unfortunate results. Because I feel so strongly… Read More »
I have found that when most people meet with me about their divorce, custody modification, or other related family law issues, they often ask whether the opposing attorney is tough, a fighter, or will tell me that they heard that their spouse’s attorney is a “real shark”, or worse. Everyone wants a family law attorney that can handle… Read More »
It’s Not Enough To Be A Great Lawyer In Order To Thrive Whether you are a solo practitioner or a first year associate at a 1000 attorney law firm, or an in-house counsel at a corporation, you can make your practice more satisfying and yourself more effective by thinking of your law practice as an entrepreneurial venture and… Read More »
Top 5 Employment Law Myths There are a few misconceptions about employee rights that employment attorneys routinely encounter in their conversations with potential clients and friends. This article aims to debunk five common employment law myths in order to empower you to make wise choices about your employment.
Every taxpayer has an estate tax exemption, which allows you to “shield” assets from the federal estate taxation. This federal estate tax exemption can be used to transfer assets to your beneficiaries, whether outright or in trust. Bequests to your spouse however are generally not subject to estate tax. The federal estate tax exemption amount (before taxation commences… Read More »
In the case of McKorpen v. Central Gulf Steamship Corporation, 544 F.3d 396 (5th Cir. 1968) the Fifth Circuit of the United States Court of Appeals established what has now commonly been referred to as the McKorpen Defense. The McKorpen Defense applies to a seaman’s right to cure if he gets injured.