The Basic Principles of Estate Planning

June 9, 2022 Senior Wealth Manager and Shareholder of Sand Hill Global Advisors joins Jennifer H. Friedman, Partner at Jorgenson, Siegel, McClure, & Flegel, LLP discuss the importance and principles of estate planning to help you better understand how to prepare for your future. Below is a transcript of the video interview. Elizabeth Cody:Welcome everybody … Continued

Creating a Suitable Legacy for Your Art Collection

July 30, 2021 There are so many factors to consider when collecting art, not the least of which is what to do with it at the end of your life. Because it could grow to be a significant part of your taxable estate, careful planning is necessary during your lifetime to ensure that these valuable … Continued

New Year, New Plan?

February 2, 2021 Since 2012, the lifetime exemption amount that every individual can transfer free of estate tax during their life or at death has increased, not only through congressional action but from inflation adjustments coming every January like a New Year’s gift. For the 2021 tax year, the number now stands at $11.7 million … Continued

California’s Proposition 19 Institutes New Property Tax and Transfer Rules

January 8, 2021 In the November 2020 election, California voters narrowly passed Proposition 19, a measure that impacts two major areas related to property tax and property transfer. First, it gives homeowners more flexibility to change residences anywhere within California while retaining their property tax base as long as the new home is purchased within … Continued

Don’t Miss the Boat on Gifting and Estate Tax Exemptions

July 20, 2020 In December 2017, Congress passed the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA), creating a significant but temporary opportunity for high-net-worth individuals to transfer a portion of their wealth to heirs free of gift and estate tax. The act included a provision to increase the federal gift and estate tax exclusion from $5.45M … Continued

Extra Planning Matters When Traveling During Retirement

Travel during retirement typically requires more planning and preparation than vacations taken earlier in life. These vacations tend to last longer, and, for a variety of reasons, they can often place you in more vulnerable situations than experienced previously. In addition, later-in-life travel involves financial, estate and health considerations that are usually not as necessary … Continued

Choosing the Right Executor Part 2: Breaking Down the Options

In Part One of this series, we explored the six key qualities and characteristics to consider when selecting the executor and successor trustee for your estate. In Part Two of this series, we will next explore the various types of executors and successor trustees available. You may be surrounded by loved ones and have many … Continued

Estate Planning for Your Digital Assets

As our lives are increasingly spent online from bill pay, to email and blogs to Facebook and Instagram, have you thought about what happens to your digital assets when you die? How will your successor trustee, executor or loved ones gain access to important records or treasured photographs stored in a vault in the cloud? … Continued

You Established a Trust! But Did You Properly Fund It?

Many years ago, I was meeting with some new clients: a married couple in their 50’s with several million dollars in assets. They’d provided copies of their brokerage account statements for two IRAs and a joint account for me to review. I asked if they’d done any estate planning and they enthusiastically answered, “Yes!”, clearly … Continued

Intellectual Property: Estate Planning Considerations

Intellectual property (IP) is a critical driver of innovation and economic competitiveness.  In the last several years, new groundbreaking products and services have been made available to the world markets from right here in Silicon Valley and surrounds: drones, back-lit LED plasma TVs, hybrid and self-driving cars (!), streaming video, smart phones, life-saving pharmaceuticals, medical … Continued