What is an Irrevocable Life Insurance Trust (ILIT)?
I was asked to present on this topic this past month, and I thought I’d share the results of my research. An irrevocable life insurance trust (otherwise known as an ILIT) is a resource that can be used to avoid estate taxes, and/or to provide a means to pay for them. Here’s how it works: Normally, when the...
What Does Copyright Protect?
This is an important question when you’re drawing from someone else’s work to create your own material. What is permissible, and what would be considered infringement? Copyright only protects creative expression. It does not protect facts or ideas, only the way those facts and ideas are assembled and presented to the world. The point of copyright is to...
What is Probate?
Whenever I meet with a new prospective client, I give them the opportunity to ask questions. A very common question is “Do I need a trust?” Rather than give the classic lawyer answer (“It depends”), I tell them that most people who create a trust do so for one of two reasons: To control how and when young...
Plagiarism vs. Copyright Infringement
I’ve had several occasions now where a person asked me about one of these topics, but the longer the person talked, the clearer it was that they really meant the other. It’s happened often enough that I felt an article was in order. Plagiarism is what happens when you fail to cite your sources, or when you pass...
Celebrity Estates in the News
I love stories. In my business, I especially love stories that I can use in my presentations to illustrate the importance of the things I’m talking about. And what better stories to use than stories involving celebrity estates? Some of the stories I use are a bit older, but provide valuable lessons, like the estate of Elvis Presley,...