‘Holey Donut’ café changes name after Portland’s Holy Donut sues
“The Holy Donut registered its name as a protected trademark nine years ago, when it first started selling its mashed potato-infused doughnuts on Park Avenue in Portland.” https://www.pressherald.com/2021/02/18/holey-donut-cafe-changes-name-after-portlands-holy-donut-sues/
Read moreIncome Tax Payment Deadline Extended
The due date for filing and paying both federal and Maine state income taxes for all taxpayers (including individuals, trusts and estates, corporations and other non-corporate tax filers) has been extended from April 15, 2020 to July 15, 2020. For more details please see: IRS announcement: https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/tax-day-now-july-15-treasury-irs-extend-filing-deadline-and-federal-tax-payments-regardless-of-amount-owed Governor Mills announcement: https://www.maine.gov/governor/mills/news/governor-mills-extends-state-income-tax-payment-deadline-july-15-2020-2020-03-26
Read moreEstate Planning & Administration Considerations in the Context of COVID-19
Plan Ahead. Of course, all planning depends upon your individual circumstances. The current difficult circumstances are freeing up some time and we’re taking the opportunity to focus on our goals and planning. Perhaps you are too. Ensuring that your affairs are in order may help minimize the stress of the current pandemic on you and your loved ones, both now and in the future. Now more than ever it’s important to think about and address planning for your family and future. Disability Planning. If you don’t have up to date powers of attorney, get them. Everybody should have a financial power of attorney and health care directive (i.e. medical power of attorney) regardless of age, wealth or health. If you have existing documents, make sure they are up to date and reflect your intent. The following questions should be addressed: Are your documents up to date and ready to be used? Do your documents comply with Maine law? Are the fiduciaries named in your documents still appropriate choices? Are you confident they will be able to carry out their duties efficiently and properly? Does your advance healthcare directive still reflect your current wishes with respect to end of life care? Does your doctor and agent(s) have a copy? If you have minor children, have you designated a guardian to take care of them if both you and your spouse become ill or die? Have there been any major changes in your life necessitating a review of your estate plan? Location of originals? Is this firm holding your originals or are you? If you are storing original estate plan documents in a lock box or safe deposit box, do your fiduciaries have access to the documents, or at least a reasonably easy way to gain access? Prepare an inventory of the documents and their location if you don’t already have one and make sure you share it with your fiduciaries. You can utilize the form lists we have posted on our website – see #6 below. Asset titling and beneficiary designations. Are your beneficiary designations on your retirement accounts and life insurance up to date? Are your assets titled properly? Joint ownership avoids probate but may not be appropriate for your circumstances. Create list of passwords and digital information and organize your affairs. We recommend using “The Big Book of Everything” or “Estate Planning Organizer for the Family” – both of which are available on our website under “Resources”: http://www.mainestatelaw.com/resources/ Options for signing new or revised estate plan documents. As of the date of this post, Maine does not permit online notarization, and electronic wills are not permitted in this state either. There are developments in the pipeline to permit electronic notarization and we will look to update this post when and if that occurs. Under current law powers of attorney and wills needs to be signed in the presence of witnesses and ideally should be notarized to bolster their enforceability. We have been using several ways to ensure signings are accomplished that adequately protect everyone’s health. We will customize signing methods on a case-by-case basis, taking your circumstances into consideration. […]
Read more2020 SECURE Act and Implications for Nonspouse Beneficiaries of Retirement Accounts
The SECURE (“Setting Every Community Up For Retirement Enhancement”) Act was signed into law in December 2019 as part of the 2020 federal budget. Among other things the Act changes the default rules relating to distributions from tax deferred retirement plans. The effect of the new rules will be accelerated distributions of inherited retirement plans. Generally speaking, nonspouse beneficiaries of qualified accounts will be required to draw down those accounts and pay taxes on the distributions in a shorter period of time than permitted under prior law. This means diminished tax deferral benefits for most beneficiaries of retirement accounts. Under prior law, beneficiaries of qualified accounts were generally entitled to draw out required minimum distributions (“RMDs”) based on their life expectancy. Beneficiaries were permitted to accumulate gains in their inherited accounts tax free and postpone payment of income taxes due on the RMDs taken over their life span – a huge benefit due to the prolonged effects of tax deferral and compounding gains. Under the SECURE Act, the life expectancy “stretch out” has been eliminated for all but the following 5 categories of “eligible designated beneficiaries”: Surviving spouse of account holder Minor child of account holder Disabled beneficiary Chronically ill individual Individual who is less than 10 years younger than account holder The 5-year payout rule for non-designated beneficiaries (i.e. estates, charities and nonqualified trusts) remains in effect. All other designated beneficiaries must take distributions over a 10-year period. There are other provisions in the SECURE Act that might apply to you but the limiting of RMD stretch out has the greatest impact on most of our clients. Things to Consider Does the individual you intend to benefit fall under one of the categories of “eligible designated beneficiaries”? If so, the individual will be entitled to the life expectancy stretch payout. This is a favorable outcome from a tax standpoint. Remember, spousal beneficiaries will not be affected by the new limitations imposed by the Act. Consider a Roth conversion. This option may be prudent for an account holder who is in a lower income tax bracket than his or her beneficiary. A Roth conversion results in a big income tax bill when you make the conversion, but you (and your beneficiaries) get tax free distributions in the future. Roth IRAs are not subject to RMDs during an account holder’s lifetime but beneficiaries (other than surviving spouse) must take RMDs after the account holder has died. If your estate plan leaves retirement benefits to a “conduit trust”, you should determine whether the recent changes in the law warrant changes. A conduit trust is a type of “see through” trust that requires all distributions from the account to the trust to be distributed out to the beneficiary pursuant to the RMD rules (i.e. previously the beneficiary’s lifetime). The primary purpose of setting up a conduit trust is to facilitate payment of RMDs to a beneficiary but also restrict the beneficiary’s ability to withdraw all at once the funds in the retirement account. If your intent in initially setting up the conduit trust was to ensure that payouts occur gradually over the life […]
Read moreNew Maine Probate Code
The last time we had a major tax overhaul was in 1986 with the Tax Reform Act signed by President Reagan. Although it simplified the income tax code for some folks, it also created complexity for others, not to mention a great deal of work for accountants and tax lawyers who were tasked with interpreting and planning around the new law. Tax professionals (and the IRS) now again have their hands full in interpreting and implementing the newly enacted Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, which took effect on January 1, 2018. To ring in the New Year, we thought it helpful to provide clients with a summary of the new law with a specific emphasis on how it affects your businesses and estate planning. Keep in mind that although the new law is effective now, individuals won’t see any change to their tax returns until spring 2019 (when 2018 returns are filed).
Read moreThe Simplest Annuity Explainer We Could Write
The insurance companies that create annuities often make them seem like investments. But really they’re more like insurance. At their simplest, annuities offer a guarantee. If you turn over some money, you’ll be guaranteed to get all that money back — plus usually a certain amount more. Or you turn over some money and you’ll be guaranteed a regular check for a certain period. Like insurance to stave off financial disaster, an annuity is something you purchase to guarantee that you won’t run out of money if you live a long time. Such financial guarantees are attractive. After all, we don’t know how our investments will perform: This year may be the first in a while that your stock and bond index funds both lose money. Still, annuities are not a mainstream product. This is partly the fault of the annuity companies, since they have long outsourced the sales process to people who do not always have customers’ best interests at heart. Read the full article at NYTimes.com.
Read moreTax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017
The last time we had a major tax overhaul was in 1986 with the Tax Reform Act signed by President Reagan. Although it simplified the income tax code for some folks, it also created complexity for others, not to mention a great deal of work for accountants and tax lawyers who were tasked with interpreting and planning around the new law. Tax professionals (and the IRS) now again have their hands full in interpreting and implementing the newly enacted Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, which took effect on January 1, 2018. To ring in the New Year, we thought it helpful to provide clients with a summary of the new law with a specific emphasis on how it affects your businesses and estate planning. Keep in mind that although the new law is effective now, individuals won’t see any change to their tax returns until spring 2019 (when 2018 returns are filed).
Read moreThe 21 Questions You’re Going to Need to Ask About Investment Fees
The best way to understand what the fiduciary debate is about — and to protect yourself — is to view this discussion through the lens of fees. Every time you do business with people in the financial services industry, ask them this: How much money are you making, and what are the different ways you are making it? Read the full article at NYTimes.com.
Read moreWhy You Should Get Around to Drawing Up a Will
Having a will is important to ensure that your money and belongings are distributed according to your wishes after you die, said Sally Hurme, an elder-law attorney affiliated with AARP. “It determines how anything you own is going to be distributed to people you want to receive it, after your death,” she said. If you die without a will, your estate will be settled in accordance with state law. Details vary by state, but assets typically are distributed using a hierarchy of survivors. Assets go to first to a spouse, then to children, then your siblings, and so on. Read the full article at NYTimes.com.
Read moreLove and Burnout: Caregivers, Too, Need Cure
Though caregiving can be a profound and moving journey, caregivers’ needs are often overlooked. The health care system is mainly focused on patients; caregivers who are slowly burning out can slip by unnoticed until it is too late. Read the full article at NYTimes.com.
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