April 2019 Archives

When Georgia couples have children and are thinking about filing for divorce, it is good for them to know what the courts look at when it comes to child support. The purpose of child support is to ensure that both parents share the financial responsibilities of the children. Courts want the children to be able to maintain a high standard of living, or at least something they are used to, after the parents divorce.

A Georgia resident with a lot of assets might want to consider using a trust instead of a will as the main vehicle in their estate plan. While a will comes into effect upon a person's death, a trust takes effect as soon as it is signed. An estate owner may have more or less control over the trust depending on whether it is revocable or irrevocable.

Georgia residents have likely heard about the divorce of Jeff Bezos. Part of the reason why this divorce garnered so much attention was the fact that Jeff Bezos is the richest man on the planet. As a result, a number of salacious details surrounding adultery and blackmail found their way into the headlines. However, the way that the couple handled all of these scandals and accompanying challenges serves as a good lesson for other individuals who are going through the divorce process whether it is a high-asset divorce or not.

We make a preliminary and quite direct point concerning estate planning on our website at the Georgia law firm of Miles Hansford & Tallant. We stress in a recent blog post that, “Depending on the state and what the heirs want, probate can take anywhere from three months to several years.”

Lee Radziwill, sister of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, died in the first part of 2019, but she revised her will as recently as September 2018. This is not unusual for a person who wants to make sure an estate plan remains current in terms of assets, family members and plans. Radziwill also had a trust document from 2017. Like Radziwill, people in Georgia should make sure they review their estate plan and keep it current.

We have all heard the adage “good fences make good neighbors.” Perhaps one of the reasons for this is that when neighbors agree on their boundary lines and respect each other’s property, fewer disagreements arise. It may also be true that bad fences make bad neighbors. If you are in a dispute with your neighbor regarding your property lines, you understand how important this issue can be. These disputes do have solutions, however.

Divorces, just like marriages, have legal requirements that must be met before they are granted. In Georgia, one of the requirements for divorce is that there must be a legally valid reason, called a ground, for divorce.

The nuances of inheritance tax are difficult and complex. They require familiarity and expertise in an area of law that shifts and evolves every year. One of those areas that can be difficult to understand is the step-up costs involved in estate plans and inheritance taxes.

Millions of people across Georgia and other parts of the country begin planning their estates each year. They know that passing away without a will can wreak havoc on their loved ones. The issue that some face is that they don't know which type of trust will provide the most benefits for their heirs.

If you are fortunate enough as a Georgia business principal to have income streams deriving from leases of both residential and commercial properties, you command some in-depth knowledge of those legal instruments.