Silicon Valley Estate Planning Journal
News and Articles from the Law Offices of John C. Martin
When Is It Time to “Service” Your Estate Plan?
If you own a car, then you know it requires regular servicing in order to perform well and be reliable. More than likely, your car came with a recommended schedule for service, based on how many miles it has been driven. After a certain number of miles, you need to...
Get Ready for These Five New Taxes on January 1, 2013
Now that the health care law has been declared constitutional, several significant provisions will become effective on January 1, 2013Tax #1: 3.8% Surtax on Investment Income This new tax will be levied on net investment income if modified adjusted gross income is...
Estate Planning After Divorce
One area that is often overlooked in the divorce process is the need to update estate planning. Most people would agree that their ex-spouse is the last person they want to inherit their assets when they die—or to have that person make life and death decisions for...
Paying for College
According to the College Board, the average cost of attending an in-state four-year public college in 2011-2012 is more than $19,000 per year; for a four-year private college it is nearly $40,000 per year. Over the last decade, published tuition and fees for in-state...
Blended Families Underscore the Need for Estate Planning
Anyone with children or modest assets should seriously consider some minimal estate planning, but the increasing number of blended families underscores the need for proper estate planning. Blended families can involve children from a prior marriage as well as...
Estate Planning – A Process, Not an Event
You have signed all of your estate planning documents and, if your plan includes trusts, completed their funding. You sit back, relax, and enjoy the peace of mind that comes with completing that task. But don’t bask in that feeling for too long—estate planning is an...
Advance Directives/Living Wills are a Critical Component of Estate Planning
March 31, 2012 marked the seventh anniversary of the death of Terri Schiavo, the 41-year-old who succumbed after her feeding tube was removed as part of a very public legal battle between her husband and parents. As you may recall, Terri Schiavo was in a coma...
Ensuring Income Tax Deferral for Retirement Plan Beneficiaries
Some of the most generous provisions of the tax code are those that permit beneficiaries of IRAs and other qualified retirement plans to defer income tax on the plans until time of withdrawal. This allows the IRA or qualified plan to grow significantly more than if it...
Potential Problems with Beneficiary Designations
Many clients use beneficiary designations, and for good reason. Some significant assets, including life insurance policies, IRAs, retirement plans and even bank accounts, allow a beneficiary to be named. It’s free, it’s easy, and, when the owner dies, these assets are...
Estate Planning for Second Marriages
In first marriages, the couple generally has the same goals when it comes to their estate planning: take care of the surviving spouse for as long as he or she lives, then whatever is left will go to the children. They may own many of their assets jointly and, at the...
John C. Martin
(650) 329-9500
Recent Posts
- John Martin Speaks on Advanced Estate Planning
- Estate Planning with Real Estate after Proposition 19
- John Martin recently quoted in Charles Wallace’s article on Digital Wills and the importance of managing passwords
- KGO Radio Interview with John Martin
- Through Menlo Park Kiwanis, John Martin Helps Award $50,000 in College Scholarships
- Federal Tax Reform is Coming. Are you Ready?
- California Asset Protection Laws are Changing. Is Your Current Trust Adequate?
- Tune in on 7/19 at 7pm for a Live Radio Discussion on the Prevention of Financial Elder Abuse
- John C. Martin Featured on ABC7 News with Michael Finney
- John Martin Helps Give Away $55,000 in Scholarships to M-A Students through Menlo Park Kiwanis