Blog - "Altman Speaks"

The Top Five Issues With Jointly-Titled Assets

It’s a common misconception by many parents that adding a child to their bank account is a good idea, when it comes to assisting with financial issues, for example. However, as a recent Forbes magazine article points out, there are major problems that come with jointly-titled assets. Here are The Top Five Issues With Jointly-Titled […]

Planning for Your Future...and The Future Itself

When sitting down to think about your estate plan you are often faced with choices like what type of trust to place your assets in; or whether to make gifts in life or at death. Furthermore, you face personal questions like who your beneficiaries or executor of your estate will be. In this process, you […]

The Greatest Gift You Can Give - An Estate Plan

“The greatest gift my mother ever gave me was doing her estate plan.” This was a recent quote from a client. Truer words were never said. However, it should be added that the estate was well thought out by her mother and her mother’s attorney, was clear and well written, and that her mother’s assets […]

What Should Your Estate Planning Attorney Know?

One of the estate planning list serves that I monitor recently had a post from an attorney who had a question about a testamentary generation skipping transfer tax trust and capital gains. He prefaced his question by acknowledging that he was “not a tax person”. From the question, it is clear that there is a […]

A Common Question: "Where Should I Keep My Will?"

I was recently asked by a local bank about how to get access to a decedent’s safe deposit box to find decedent’s Will. Ultimately, they had to go to the local probate court, obtain a court order, wait until court personnel could accompany them to the safe deposit box, pay for the cost of drilling […]

Federal Government Employee? What You Should Know About Thrift Savings Plans (TSP)

If you Google the phrase "died penniless," you'll get over 1,000,000 results. Famous people on the list include Oscar Wilde, Joe Louis and Judy Garland. While it's tempting to try to arrange things so you spend your last dollar the day before you die, it's almost impossible. Most of us will die with money in […]

As Temps Rise, Nuclear Families Take a Dive – Estate Planning for Unconventional Families Has Never Been More Important

Among the many articles covering the blazing heat wreaking havoc on the DC metro area as well as much of the U.S., was an interesting piece in yesterday’s Washington Post on nuclear families. According to the article, “Nuclear Family at Home in Northern Virginia,” new census figures show that marriage rates across the nation have plunged, while […]

University of Texas Sues Ryan O'Neal Over Farrah Fawcett Portrait

The University of Texas file a lawsuit claiming ownership of a Andy Warhol silkscreen of Farrah Fawcett, which it says Farrah bequeathed to the school in 2009 when she died in 2009 at the age of 62. Ryan O’Neal claims that the Warhol silkscreen was "given to him by Farrah" and, therefore, he owns it […]

Maryland Residents Can Now Have Wine Shipped to Them

As an avid wine drinker and collector, I was delighted to learn that for the first time ever Maryland residents are now legally allowed to order and receive wine to their doorsteps. In other words, a winery in California, Washington State, Virginia, Oregon, New York or any place else can ship wine directly to a […]

The Complexity of Trusts: "No Contest" Does Not Mean No Action

In a recent decision from California, the Court held that a beneficiary seeking to compel the trustee to distribute funds pursuant to the trust did not violate the trust’s no-contest clause. The trust in Arnall v. Arnall, like many trusts, contained a provision that disinherited any beneficiary who contested, attacked, or sought to impair the […]

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Recent Posts

A Memorial Day Message from the Altman Team

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