■ Bankruptcy: When you make a mortgage payment, part of each payment is interest, and the balance is principal, reducing the amount you owe the lender, and increasing your equity in the house. The Bankruptcy Code provides that: “…a debtor may not exempt any amount of interest that was acquired by the debtor during the…
■ What’s Scarier then the Crypt Keeper? Not en-crypting your laptop! 10,000 laptops are stolen from airports every week. If you have valuable data on your laptop (or perhaps your accountant or estate planner have your data on their laptop) encrypt it. Don’t stop there. Here’s another Tale from the Crypt — About 40,000…
Summary: Irrevocable life insurance Trusts (“ILITs”) are a common estate planning tool. Having a trust own your insurance can keep the proceeds outside your taxable estate, protect the proceeds for your surviving spouse, partner or children. An ILIT can protect the proceeds from an heir’s divorce or lawsuit. Physicians and others worried about malpractice…
Summary: Last month’s checklist addressed record keeping and income tax consideration for your art and collectibles. This month’s column addresses additional issues. The topic is so broad and complicated that the following should be viewed at most as a starting point to make you aware of some of the many issues to consider. …