Douglas A. Turner, P.C.

More and more individuals are avoiding probate by using revocable trusts, payable on death designations and joint tenancy. The end result is that when a person dies, their money quickly disappears leaving the creditors of the deceased with nothing but an account due and owing. However, there are ways to recover from those who received [...]

The general rule is that liability for a debt rests with the person who incurred the debt. However, like most general rules, there are many exceptions. One of those exceptions is something called the family purpose doctrine.

The family purpose doctrine states that the expenses of the family and the education of the children are chargeable upon the property of both husband and wife, or either of them, and in relation thereto they may be sued jointly or separately. In simple English, this means that both husband and wife are responsible for the grocery bill regardless of who went to the store.

Avoiding ancillary probate is easy. By putting real estate into something called a nominee trust or living trust, ancillary probate proceedings and the associated expense can be avoided. As an alternative to a living trust, a limited liability company can be created, the real estate transferred to the company and then ownership in the company can be transferred to the heirs through the primary probate proceeding…

With the current federal estate tax exemption at two million dollars, fewer individuals are faced with federal estate taxes. However, for those with more than two million dollars in assets and life insurance, there are some simple and inexpensive techniques to greatly reduce if not eliminate any potential federal estate taxes.

Well, times have changed since I first wrote about the disposition of dead bodies. It used to be that an individual could not control what happened to his or her body after death. Well, that has changed.
Colorado’s Disposition of Last Remains Act
Several years ago, Colorado enacted the Disposition of Last Remains Act. In Colorado, [...]

Many tax planning wills and trusts have a little secret hidden deep down inside – the up front expense of long-term estate tax planning. There is a cost to a will or revocable trust that creates irrevocable, tax planning trusts at death. A person should always review that plan and ask himself or [...]

Hurray! The federal estate tax exemption is 1.5 million this year. Hurray! A married couple with a tax planning estate plan can shelter up to 3 million from federal estate tax. Hurray! The federal exemption will go even higher in the year 2009. But … what about STATE estate [...]

What to Expect From an Estate Plan
An estate plan is more than a will or a living trust. It is a combination of many documents. Many people are surprised to learn just how many documents are involved. Here is what you should expect to receive in any estate plan:
What to Expect from a Will-Based Plan [...]

A broken marriage is a marriage overflowing with broken promises and misunderstandings. The last promises are those made in the divorce decree. While those promises, like others, are usually broken or misunderstood, many disgruntled ex-spouses are going to court to enforce the promises, or the promises as they remember them. However, the court is not [...]

So great grandma created a trust 90 years ago for your benefit. No doubt you don’t like the trust terms, and the corporate trustee ignores your requests… but what can you do about it? Well, perhaps you can bust the trust with something called the Doctrine of Acceleration.
The Doctrine of Acceleration
The Doctrine of Acceleration is [...]