For more information on scheduling a family will clinic to update your own planning and to get your children to complete or update their planning call 610-933-8069 and mention the offer code:  FAMILY WILL REVIEW to qualify for a free review.

Attorney David M. Frees III - Protecting Yourself and Your Family- A Will Review

David Frees is Chairman of the Unruh, Turner, Burke and Frees Trust Estate and Wealth Preservation Section

David and the firm maintain law offices in Malvern, Phoenixville, and West Chester Pennsylvania which serve

the Main Line, and many surrounding communities such as Devon, Exton, West Chester, Ardmore and others.

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Estate and Trust lawyer David Frees on FLPs

Many affluent families use family limited partnerships as part of their business succession planning, business continuity plans, and as a legitimate part of estate planning.

Limited partnerships allow a person or family own owns real estate, a family business, or even concentrated positions of publicly traded stock companies to accomplish a number of important things. By using a FLP (Family Limited Partnership) the family can divide the ownership of the company or assets from the management. So, a senior generation can continue to operate the business and mentor the next generation while allowing growth in the value of the company to occur in the children’s names.

The interests in FLPs are easy to divide and different family members can own different fractions of the total asset base or business.

The FLP can help to prevent a dissolution of the company upon the death of a senior family member and can provide for continuity of management.

And, when done properly, and when carefully documented, the FLP structure can result in a diminished value of the gift to children or grandchildren.

FLPs can be used in conjunction with both trusts created during your lifetime, or under a will and can also offer some significant asset protection.

The new York Times recently published a great overview of the pros (some of the benefits mentioned above), the cons (IRS scrutiny for one), and what to do to make sure that the FLP works as intended.

Click here to read this great NY TIMES article on Limited Partnerships and the IRS.

Unruh, Turner, Burke and Frees maintain law offices in Phoenixville, Malvern, and West Chester, Pennsylvania.

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David M. Frees III on When to use a Trust Protector

There is a new sheriff in town and the sheriff’s name is the “Trust Protector.” By naming a trust protector, you can select a person, in advance, who can make hard decisions, change the terms of the trust (within certain preset limits and for certain purposes), and who can hire and fire trustees.

The job of the trust protector varies significantly depending on the nature and purpose of the trust. However, there are certain jobs that you may not want to assign to a trustee or a beneficiary and they can instead be assigned to a specific person named as the protector.

For example, it may not be desirable for a child (even an adult child) to be able to fire and replace trustees. However, if a trustee is not performing, it may be important for them to be discharged and replaced without the need and expense of court petitions. So what can you do? If you plan in advance, in steps the trust protector who can make these decisions.

In many cases, you can draft a trust to create the role of trust protector and then give that person the right to review financial transactions, to discharge and replace trustees, to resolve disputes, and more.
This can save money, protect your beneficiaries, limit court intervention, and make sure that the assets are not taxed again in a child’s estate because he or she had too much power over the trust. Trust protectors can also make sure that a corporate trustee’s fees are reasonable and their performance is effective.

For more information on trust protectors and specifically:

How, when and why to create a trust protector,
Who should act as a trust protector, (often lawyers, CPAs and other independent and trusted advisers)
The pros and cons of a trust protector, and
Why the trust protector is more important than ever in a changing tax environment,

please come back to this blog or sign up for our RSS feed to be automatically notified when we publish new articles on this topic.

And, for more information on trusts and trust planning please click here to order our Enhanced Estate Planning workbook.

David M. Frees III
Unruh, Turner, Burke and Frees has law offices of it’s Trust, Estate, and Wealth Preservation Section in Malvern, West Chester and Phoenixville, Pennsylvania.

These offices provide legal services to clients in the greater Philadelphia area including Wayne, Devon, Berwyn, Malvern, Phoenixville, Exton, and many other local communities.

For a complimentary consultation please call 610-933-8069 and mention PAESTAEPLANNERS for your free estate planning materials and resources.

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David M. Frees III on Wills and Revocable Trusts in Pennsylvania

Click here to watch the video and read the brief checklist on wills vs. trusts in Pennsylvania.

This brief video and article will walk you through the big issues related to the question of whether or not you need to spend the extra money for a revocable trust in Pennsylvania. There is also a video and a link to another great article on the trust question.

David M. Frees

For an appointment with David Frees for a revocable trust, a will, or a power of attorney in Pennsylvania please call Donna, Denise, or Beth. To make sure that you receive a discount and an initial consultation at no charge mention this blog and offer “DavidFrees 2010″ when you call.

You can also reach David at 610-933-8069

David Frees is a trust, estate, and asset protection lawyer with offices in Malvern, Phoenixville, and West Chester, Pennsylvania that serve many surrounding communities including Malvern, Devon, Berwyn, Wayne, Chester Springs, Phoenixville, and Exton as well as many others in the area.

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David M. Frees III on Required Minimum Distributions and 2009 Deductions You Can Still Get

Tax Deductions and Required Minimum Distributions for 2009 and 2010 – Estate Planning Means Good Tax Planning

If you took advantage of the one year exception last year, you may not have taken a required minimum distribution from your IRA or 401(k). However, as our friend Doug MacGray reminds us in his news letter MacGray Matters, that the RMD is back.

Doug also notes that Haiti earthquake donations made this month can still be taken on your 2009 tax return.

First, the issue of required minimum distributions.

THE RMD is back: If you hold money in a traditional IRA, and you are older than 70 ½, then beginning this year (2010), you must once again withdraw your annual Required Minimum Distribution. Of course, when you make these withdraws, you are subject to tax (on traditional and not Roth IRAs).

The I.R.S. suspended the RMD rule in 2009 due to the large loses many taxpayers experienced. That was great for last year, but the RMD is back.

As your tax preparer will remind you, the RMD is determined by your age and the market value of your IRA. So if you’re 70 1/2 or above, contact your investment advisers soon to plan for this withdraw and the tax issue that will result in on your 2010 return.

Tax deductions still available for 2009:

Just as a reminder, President Obama recently signed into law an act which allows taxpayers to claim a charitable deduction for tax year 2009 for cash donations made for the relief of victims in areas affected by the January 12, 2010 earthquake in Haiti. These contributions must be made before March 1. Ask your adviser for more specifics about the eligible recipients.

Thanks to our friend Doug MacGray
Principal, Senior Vice President Financial Planning
300 Conshohocken State Road, Suite 670 | W. Conshohocken, PA 19428 | (610) 783-4265 (direct)

Hope that you had a great snow weekend and here’s to a safe return to work.
Be well.

David M. Frees III, Esquire
For an estate planning consultation or for advice concerning an estate or trust, call 610-933-8069. Mention OFFER DMFREES2010 for your free consultation.

Unruh, Turner, Burke and Frees maintains offices in Malvern, Phoenixville, and West Chester serving Devon, Berwyn, Exton, and the Western Main Line

dfrees@utbf.com

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David M. Frees III on a 2010 TO DO List.

Now that we are a few days into 2010 it has become clear that the rules about the federal estate tax and the gift tax are anything but clear.

And with so much confusion, especially about the gift tax, I thought that a few basics might help to avoid costly mistakes.

Myth #1. The gift tax was eliminated on January 1, 2010 just like the estate tax.
Fact: Only the federal estate tax was eliminated. The gift tax remains intact and any gifts made this year are subject to the gift tax rules.

Myth #2. The amount that you can gift each year without tax (the annual gift tax exclusion) goes up every year.
Fact: Last year the exclusion amount was $13,000.00. This year, because inflation was so low, the amount will remain the same.

Myth #3. If you exceed that annual amount, then you owe gift tax to the government.
Fact: True and false. In addition to the annual gift tax exclusion, each person has an additional $1 million dollar lifetime exemption. This doesn’t get renewed each year but can be taken in years when you exceed the $13,000.00 dollars per person. There are also exceptions for college education and some health care expenses. So, provided that you file a gift tax return, you will not actually have to pay gift taxes until you both use up your $1 million dollar lifetime exemption and you exceed the $13,000.00 per persona annual limit (which may, from time to time, adjust for inflation).

Myth #4 Gifts are taxable to the recipient.
Fact: The giver cannot deduct the gift for income tax purposes and the gift is not income taxable to the recipient. Any gift tax due is the obligation of the person making the gift.

In short, the gift tax remains alive and well in 2010 and beyond. Make sure that you get good advice about gifting this year as part of your overall estate planning strategies.

David Frees
Wills * Trusts * Estate Planning * Asset Protection Planning
Law Offices in Phoenixville, West Chester, and Malvern Pennsylvania

For an appointment with David Frees to update your estate plan drafted more than 2 years ago, or to correct a plan drafted even more recently and containing federal estate tax planning call 610-933-8069

Note: In Pennsylvania, there are no recognized specialties, or practice areas.
When an attorney is referred to as a trust and estate or will and probate lawyer, this merely indicates that he or she confines or limits his or her practice areas.

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David M. Frees III on a 2010 TO DO List.

You think retroactive taxation for estate tax purposes is a problem?

Well, according to Russia, we have bigger problems…. click here to read more about estate planning and the pending fall of the United States governmentt.

If you need more information about planning your estate or acting as a trustee or executor, we have many free resources. Appointments are also available with David Frees by contacting Beth MacNulty, Donna Brownback, or Denise Fox at 610-933-8069.

Attorney David Frees can also be reached by email at dfrees@utbf.com

Mention this blog to get a free report at the time of your appointment or to request that a free report on executors or estate planning be sent to you. You can also request these reports on line at www.PaEstatePlanners.com

David Frees has attained AVVO’s highest possible lawyer rating.

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While we, as your advisers, are keeping our usual cool and focused demeanor, there are reasons to be cautious and to keep an eye on this situation if you have total assets (husband, wife or single person) of over one million dollars including your life insurance.

We are bringing you news and analysis as soon as it breaks and we have a chance to crunch the numbers, read the bills, and think about the unthinkable (or previously believed to be unthinkable) a year without the federal estate tax.

That’s right, Congress has fumbled the ball and an extension of the bill seems almost impossible at this point. But, many members are threatening to reenact the law after the holiday break and to have it apply retroactively to January 1, 2009.

There are a few unexpected consequences of the federal estate tax going away and this Wall Street Journal Article has a good quick review and a couple of important alerts.

Stay tuned for more news and information as it becomes available.

David M Frees III
610-933-8069

David Frees focuses his practice in the following areas of law: estate planning, estate administration, asset protection planning and wills, trusts, and related topics.

Frees is a Phoenixville lawyer, Malvern Lawyer, and West Chester Lawyer, with offices throughout Chester County, Pennsylvania.

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