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BDBF News and Legal Updates

How to Protect Your Loved One’s Inheritance in Trust While Minimizing Conflict

2024

A common tool used by many of our estate planning clients is the use of a trust to protect a loved one’s inheritance. Where a trust is established, the inheritance is retained in trust for the benefit of a designated beneficiary, rather than distributed to that beneficiary outright (under the beneficiary’s control). By taking this...

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Client Alert – 2024 Estate and Gift Tax Exemptions

2023

Client Alert - 2024 Estate and Gift Tax Exemptions

With a new year comes updated exemptions for estate tax exclusion and gift tax for 2024. What is the “estate tax exemption” and where is it going in 2024? The estate tax exemption refers to the value (or sum) of non-charitable bequests that can pass tax-free to someone other than your spouse upon your death,...

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Strategies for the Thanksgiving Estate Planning Conversation

2023

Strategies for the Thanksgiving Estate Planning Conversation

Thanksgiving.  A time for food, football, and family. When families gather – particularly when multiple generations gather – it is not unusual for younger generations to broach the subject (sometimes after a glass of wine or two) about estate planning. We know this because, at Bulman Dunie, our phones seem to ring a little bit...

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CLIENT ALERT – The Corporate Transparency Act and What It Means For You

2023

The Corporate Transparency Act and What It Means For You

There is a significant piece of new law on the books effective January 1, 2024 that will impact all business owners, including many Bulman Dunie estate planning clients. Anecdotally, from talking to our clients who will be impacted by this change, most are not aware of this new law. The Corporate Transparency Act (the “CTA”) will...

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Ch-Ch-Changes! Updating Your Estate Planning Documents

2023

Ch-Ch-Changes! Updating Your Estate Planning Documents

Ch-ch-ChangesPretty soon you’re gonna get a little olderTime may change meBut I can’t trace timeI said that time may change meBut I can’t trace time “Changes” by David Bowie When clients sign their estate planning documents, whether it is a power of attorney, a will, or a trust, the odds are that at least one...

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R-E-S-P-E-C-T Your W-I-L-L

2023

R-E-S-P-E-C-T Your W-I-L-L

When The Queen of Soul, Aretha Franklin, passed away in August 2018, few could imagine how messy she had left her legal affairs. Nearly five years later, in July 2023, following years of nasty intra-family litigation, a Michigan jury concluded that a 2014 document found in — yes, Ms. Franklin’s couch cushions — was indeed...

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What is a Life Insurance Trust and Is It Right for Me?

2023

What is a Life Insurance Trust and Is It Right for Me?

An irrevocable life insurance trust (or “ILIT”) can be a critical component of estate planning for certain clients. Typically, the client who might benefit from an ILIT is the client who anticipates exposure to estate tax. At present, this includes DC clients who have more than $4 Million in total assets (life insurance, real estate,...

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