During probate proceedings, the Executor is tasked with navigating the complexities of estate administration. North Dakota, like many other jurisdictions, entrusts significant responsibilities to Executors, ensuring the orderly distribution of assets and adherence to legal requirements. If you find yourself named as the Executor of an estate, the prospect of fulfilling your role may seem overwhelming. Working with an experienced estate planning attorney is the best way to ensure that avoid making costly mistakes. To help prepare you, however, the attorneys at German Law discuss the role of Exe ..read more

Regardless of your feelings about her music, her attendance at National Football League games, or anything else related to the popstar, it’s hard to argue that Taylor Swift isn’t a cultural phenomenon. In 2023, Taylor launched a multi-city tour that broke records for attendance, sales, merchandising, and gross revenue; the Federal Reserve credited her with boosting the country’s economy; and Time magazine named her Person of the Year. While interesting, these statistics only tell part of the story. When Taylor Swift takes action, her legions of fans, called “Swifties,” take notice. Often, blog ..read more

Estate Planning attorneys need to understand multiple issues ranging from taxes to asset protection to create a comprehensive estate plan. Passage of the Corporate Transparency Act adds yet another layer to the already complex world of Estate Planning. Beginning on January 1, 2024, any company that qualifies as a Reporting Company needs to file a report with the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) regarding its Beneficial Owners and individuals who helped register the Reporting Company. The provisions of the Corporate Transparency Act are designed to help prevent and combat money lau ..read more

While trusts were formerly the domain of aristocrats who utilized trusts to safeguard family wealth, they have now become commonplace in the estate plans of ordinary individuals. Furthermore, trusts have adapted to meet diverse estate planning objectives, providing specialized options to serve nearly any estate planning purpose. Once a trust is established, it must be administered. Whether you are the Trustee charged with overseeing the administration of a trust or are a beneficiary who stands to benefit from the trust, a comprehensive understanding of trust administration is helpful. With tha ..read more

A well thought out and comprehensive estate plan should accomplish numerous goals above and beyond simply creating a roadmap for the distribution of your estate assets after you are gone. One estate planning goal that should be included in most estate plans is probate avoidance. To help get you started, a Grand Forks attorney at German Law offers a North Dakota guide to avoiding probate. What Is Probate? Probate, is the legal process that unfolds after an individual’s death, serves to identify, value, and transfer assets to beneficiaries and heirs. While it serves the essential purpose of sett ..read more

The Applicable Exclusion Amount (“AEA”) permits individuals to transfer a certain amount of property either during life or at death without worrying about incurring an estate or gift tax. Passage of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 temporarily doubled that amount thereby allowing significant amounts of wealth pass from one generation to another without imposition of tax. As we draw nearer to January 1, 2026, and the sunset of those doubling provisions, attorneys and clients alike will rush to utilize whatever remains of their AEA to avoid losing it. Married individuals have a particularly use ..read more

Irrevocable trusts don’t have to be a thing of mystery. Our team can assist you with understanding the differences in trust types and determine if an Irrevocable trust might be right for you. When you sit down to create your estate plan you will likely create a Last Will and Testament to serve as the foundation of that plan. Many people, however, also include several other estate planning tools and strategies in their plan in order to achieve the numerous estate planning goals they have included in  their plan. A trust, for example, is a common additional to any comprehensive estate ..read more

Along with heightened emotions, the death of a loved one often causes the surviving family members and loved ones to have questions about the legal process that follows. If the decedent left behind a Last Will and Testament, one of those questions may relate to the authenticity of that document and how to go about challenging the validity of the Will. If you are contemplating a will contest in North Dakota, it is important to have at least a basic understanding of the legal process involved. With that in mind, a Grand Forks attorney at German Law discusses what you [Read more...] The post What ..read more

More and more families own property, assets, and businesses together.  Using an entity to govern operations provides stability by allowing continued operation upon the death of an owner.  When the governing agreement and estate planning documents of a deceased owner conflict, unintended, potentially litigious, results occur.  The post Estate Planning with Entities appeared first on German Law ..read more

Dynasty Trusts present a great opportunity to pass significant wealth on to future generations. If structured properly, the assets of a Dynasty Trust pass with minimal gift, estate or generation-skipping transfer tax consequences. As we approach the sunset of the temporarily doubled Applicable Exclusion Amount, practitioners and clients should consider whether a Dynasty Trust makes sense for them. The post Do You Want to Discuss Dynasty Trusts? appeared first on German Law ..read more