A Power of Attorney (POA) is a legal document giving another person or institution the right to do certain legal acts or tasks for another person (the Principal).  This document may be one of the most important in an Estate Planning.  It will save significant time and money if circumstances necessitate its use.  A person giving another Power of Attorney can make it very broad (General POA) or can limit it to certain acts ( Limited POA). The person giving another a Power of Attorney does not....

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A LEGAL GUIDE ON LIVING WILLS

The information below describes your legal rights concerning health care decisions and living wills. It explains your legal right to make decisions about your own health care under New Jersey law, and it tells you how to plan ahead for your health care if you become unable to decide for yourself because of an illness or accident.

1. Why should I consider writing a living will?
A serious injury, illness or a mental incapacity may make it impossible for you to make any health care decisions for yourself. In these real life situations, those responsible for your care will be forced to make these decisions for you. A living will is simply a legal document that which provides information for your treatment preferences to those caring for you, helping to insure that your wishes are respected even when you can't make decisions yourself ......

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Wills Protect Your Family

WILLS AND TRUSTS PROTECT YOUR FAMILY The primary purpose of Wills and Trusts created in your Will, but not funded until after your death, is protecting your beneficiaries from themselves and creditors. Trusts created in your Will are called Testamentary Trusts. A By-Pass Trust is a great way to reduce estate taxes but it can also provide a surviving spouse with income while preserving trust principal for children of the current or a prior marriage. The By-Pass Trust may also be used to assure that wealth is responsibly used for the benefit of minor and adult children. The family, spendthrift, asset protection and special needs provisions described in the following paragraphs may be included in your by-pass trust. With a testamentary Family Trust you may provide income to your adult child while minimizing the risk that the funds will pass to the child's spouse upon the child's death or divorce....

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New Jersey Protected Assets - Questions & Answers

Question 1: Assuming that someone has won a money judgment against me in court, from what assets of mine does the judgment creditor satisfy the judgment?
Answer: The three basic sources which a judgment creditor may satisfy the judgment (1) income, (2) tangible and intangible personal property and (3) real property.

Question 2: What is considered income?
Answer: Income includes wages, debts, earnings, dividends, interest, salary, income from trust funds and business interests and profits. The debtor will be allowed to keep a portion of income and will pay the rest to the creditor. Generally, all income is subject to execution, but there are exceptions. ....

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Limited Liability Company - Questions & Answers - Tax Planning

Question 1: If I transfer an asset into a single-member LLC, will I have to pay any tax?

Answer: No. The transfer is to yourself for income tax purposes, thus there is no capital gains on the transfer.

Question 2: If I give membership interests to my children, will I have to pay gift tax?

Answer: Whether or not you pay gift tax and how much you might pay depends on the value of the membership interests you transfer. The IRS taxes the transfer of property by gift, whether direct or indirect. Any transaction in which a property interest is gratuitously passed or conferred upon another, regardless of the means or device employed, constitutes a gift subject to tax.

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Probate F.A.Q.'s

What is Probate?

Probate is the process by which your last Will is determined to be your final statement and confirms the appointment of the person or institution you have named to administer your estate. The term probate is also used in the larger sense of probating your estate. In this sense, probate means the process by which assets are gathered and applied to pay debts, taxes and expenses of administration, and distributed to those designated as beneficiaries in your Will.

The following is a simplified outline of the general probate process: .....

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Are there different types of Wills?

There are many types of Wills:

Holographic Wills are entirely handwritten, dated, and signed by the testator. A Living Will, Medical Directive or Health Care Directive is one that authorizes the continuance or cessation of life-sustaining medical treatments from an individual who is incapable of making that decision due to debilitating circumstances.

Who should make a Will?

Every adult person should consider making a Will. Each year a large number of people die

without   Wills, leaving major decisions in the hands of the states of New Jersey or New York.....

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How does a Trust work?

Trusts are the process by which the grantor transfers legal ownership to a person or institution (called the trustee) to manage the property for the benefit of another person (called the beneficiary).

Trusts create a fiduciary relationship between the trustee and the beneficiary.

The trusteemust act solely in the best interests of the beneficiary when dealing with the trust property. If a trustee does not live up to this duty, the trustee is legally accountable to the beneficiary for any damage to his or her interests. .....

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