Recent News

April 14th, 2022 Sarah C. Smith talks about things to consider when estate planning for your pet. Read More

April 7th, 2022 attorney J Patrick Diener presents Trust and Estate Litigation: An Overview of the TEDRA Process. Read More

March 17th, 2022 Per E. Oscarsson & Sarah C. Smith discuss things to consider when estate planning for your surviving spouse. Read More

February 17th, 2022 attorney Per Oscarsson discusses estate and gift taxes. Read More

The trust is one of the most popular tools in estate planning.  Generally speaking, a trustor (also sometimes known as a settlor or grantor) establishes a trust for the benefit of one or more beneficiaries (the parties benefitted by the trust).  A trustee (who controls the trust property) then administers the trust for the benefit of those… Read More

January 20th, 2022 Attorneys Per Oscarsson and Sarah Smith outline a few common issues with minor inheritance. Read More

December 23rd, 2021 attorneys Matthew Cruz, Per Oscarsson, and Sarah Smith outline the basics of resolving disputes, in the context of estate administration. Read More

Federal law imposes a tax on gifts made in excess of a specific amount in a calendar year to a specific recipient (known as a “donee”).  That tax is usually paid by the donor (the giver) of the gift.  The specific amount is known as the annual gift exclusion.  For the past four years, the… Read More

The “basic exclusion amount” is the amount of a deceased person’s estate that passes free of federal estate tax.  This differs from the unlimited marital deduction that applies when one spouse dies and transfers all of his or her interest in property to the surviving spouse.  There is a basic exclusion amount for federal estate… Read More