Egbert & Barnes

Why do minutes of an annual meeting? Only corporations have to have them (LLCs, LPs, etc. do not, at least in Pennsylvania). Yes, you can skip the meeting and prepare a written consent to corporate action instead. But you want to make a record of the business decisions you are making, created at the end of the year you make them. That gives you solid proof that may come in handy. Who will read them? The IRS might ask to examine capital expenditures, or distributions of profit to owners. If you sell the business or get a loan, you will need the minutes for the due diligence investigation by your buyer or lender. And if there is litigation, you have a verified snapshot of the reasons for taking or not taking certain actions.

Do I Need a Will? Nah. Everything goes to my spouse anyway. You think? If you have children or if your parents are alive, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania has a different plan for you. My children will do the right thing. We hope so. Property held jointly with a child for convenience’ sake may go automatically to that child, depending on how the account is set up. Examples: your checking account, real estate. I can get everything from the internet. Everything except ad...vice tailored to your specific needs, that is. Example: the named beneficiary on your life insurance policy is your child, who is a minor. Minors cannot inherit property outright without court oversight in the form of a guardianship. Someone will have to make sure your beneficiary designations are correct and incorporate the trusts set up in your Will to avoid a minor inheriting property outright. I have a Will and that handles everything. Does it make sure there will be enough cash on hand to pay Pennsylvania Inheritance Tax? 4.5% on property passing to children, 14.5% to non-relatives. Inheritance tax is imposed on just about all you own, so real estate passing outside your will counts, as do assets in jointly held accounts. If the estate lacks sufficient cash to pay the tax bill, your executor has a problem. See more

I wrote an article for the local paper. I think it has important information for families. Please read and I invite your comments and shares.

Here are some things to think about when setting up a business..... Setting up a business is an exciting and stressful time. The decisions you face on a daily basis are all critical. One of the most important is choosing the right form for your business. The right choice could have a huge impact on your future success. As you consider the choices available to you, check out some of the frequently asked questions we hear from clients contemplating their next moves. Question #...Continue reading

Hi, it's Tom. Here is a short post on the pluses and minuses of owning assets as joint tenants: Joint tenancy is a fairly common practice nowadays, especially among the elderly. However, it is almost always a bad idea. In this case study the first in a series of sixwe will illustrate the inherent dangers of owning property in joint tenancy. What it means... As estate planning attorneys, we often encounter individuals, particularly the elderly, with other people listed as co-owners on their property. Usually, the ownership is classified as joint tenants with rights of survivorship. This means that upon the death of one tenant, the surviving joint tenant assumes sole ownership of the property. If there is more than one surviving joint tenant, they both succeed to equal ownership of the property, as joint tenants with rights of survivorship. The presumed benefits There are several reasons why someone might add another’s name to the title of his or her property. The property owner might be giving in to pressure by others who want the property. Older, lonely people are especially vulnerable to this kind of demand, as are people suffering from cognitive decline. The property owner might perceive joint ownership as an informal means of estate planning therefore saving the legal costs of procuring an attorney. The risks: Joint ownership by spouses In some cases, joint ownership between spouses can cause problems, particularly because the will does not recognize joint tenancy property. Consider the example of a blended family, consisting of a couple with their children from this and all previous relationships. The husband dies, and the wife becomes the owner of the property. When the wife dies, her will states that the property goes to her children, leaving nothing for the husband’s children. Even in a traditional or non-blended family, a transfer to a child in joint tenancy can disinherit (or over-inherit) a child or loved one because provisions were made for them in the will but the joint tenancy property is not subject to the terms of the will. Unfortunately, most people do not realize this until it is too late. Oh and if you don’t have a Will, Power of Attorney or Healthcare Power of Attorney, what are you waiting for?

Hello FB Friends, Jim Egbert here. Recently, a client’s daughter called asking if I had copies of her mother’s Power of Attorney and Healthcare Power of Attorney as her mother had a stroke and was in the hospital. The anxiety was running high and she was frantic. Quick Question; Where do you keep your Will, Power of Attorney and Healthcare Power of Attorney? Do you loved ones know that you even have those documents or where they are kept? I tell my clients to keep them... in a fireproof box locked with the key in the lock so, in the event of an emergency, the box can be opened, and the papers found. If you put the key in a place where only you know where it is, how will your loved ones gain access? Same problem if you put the papers in a bank safe deposit box. As it turns out the client listened to my instructions and on the shelf in her closet was a fireproof box with the key in the lock and inside the box were the papers. Problem solved. Take a second and think; Would your loved ones would encounter the same problem as my client’s daughter? Oh, I almost forgot, if you don’t have a Will, Power of Attorney or Healthcare Power of Attorney, what are you waiting for?

Estate Planning Pitfalls: Payable-On-Death Accounts Did you know that the government has the ability to overrule your Will? We all want the best for our loved ones when we’re gone. That includes ensuring our wishes are clear in our Will for family AND the government. It’s not always straightforward though, and there are many legal and government pitfalls that can cause added stress for your loved ones after you’re gone and cost you money. For example, suppose your Will stat...es that after your death, 50% of your assets go to your spouse and 50% divided equally between the children. Sounds pretty clear, right? However, if all your cash, savings and your home are jointly owned with your spouse, the children get nothing! That’s because Pennsylvania Estate law states that any assets held in a joint bank account automatically belong to the survivor. Likewise, any real estate such as your house and vacation homes automatically becomes the property of the co-owner on your passing through what is called operation of law. That means everyone you name in your Will including your children essentially receive nothing if your assets are held jointly, no matter what your Will says! What’s worse, your spouse could be left scrambling to meet your wishes, and there may be other legal complications for his or her Will now too. There is an upside though your spouse will not have to pay inheritance tax since there isn’t any tax due on transfers to a surviving spouse. But on the downside, it’s possible your wishes can’t or won’t be carried out ever. As estate planning attorneys, we’ve seen too many times where families are torn apart because a Will wasn’t clear or couldn’t be executed as planned. Don’t let this happen to your family! Call us today to find out how we can help ensure your wishes are followed to the letter. In cases of ensuring your loved ones receive cash, it might be as simple as setting up a Payable-on-Death account for every person you name in your Will. There are other options that Will help protect your interests and protect your family from misunderstandings. Get educated about the law. Get control of your Will. Get the peace of mind you and your family deserve. Let’s make an appointment today and find out how we can ensure your wishes are met, relieve your tax burden, and make things easier for your family when you’re gone. Call Jim Egbert or Tom Barnes of Egbert & Barnes, P.C., Montgomery County PA lawyers, today. See more

Do you need a trust? What is a Trust anyway? Think of a trust this way: A trust is a legal entity created by a party (the trustor) in which a second party (the trustee) holds the right to manage the assets or property for the benefit of a third party (beneficiary). It becomes confusing when you consider that the trustor, trustee, and beneficiary can be a combination of the same or different people. Tax savings. Traditionally, trusts have been used by estate planning attorne...Continue reading

Sharing an alley with neighbors - what are your rights? If you have an alley behind your property, you know you must keep your eye on it to make sure nobody is blocking your ability to get in and out. Not to mention random trash cans and the pesky neighbor who thinks he owns the place and parks the car wherever he wants. So, what to do when your neighbor starts to act that way, intentionally or not? Start with your deed. Usually a deed to a property on an alley will say that... the property owners on either side of the alley have an easement over the alleyway so each can use it as a passageway. An easement is a property right that gives its holder an interest in land that's owned by someone else. In many alley deeds, the property line goes down the middle of the alley. The deeds on both sides give each owner a reciprocal easement over the other's half. This makes sense, because someone must own the land, and each has the right to access their property. As Montgomery County Pennsylvania real estate attorneys, we know that problems crop up in real estate when someone stops being a good neighbor and abuses the privilege. The courts provide remedies for obstruction of alleys, usually by suits for trespass, nuisance or ejectment. The relief given is typically an order saying, in effect, "stop it". Continuing violations can result in fines. The most difficult cases come from intentional blockages going back more than 21 years, because these can result in an actual change in ownership by adverse possession. Adverse possession is a drastic remedy that courts grant reluctantly and only in the clearest of cases. Pennsylvania courts do not like to take away peoples' land, so the bar is quite high: to prove adverse possession, you must show you had actual, continuous, exclusive, visible, notorious, distinct, and hostile possession of the land for twenty-one years. Each of these elements must exist, otherwise the possession will not confer title. You must have acted like you owned it and must have done something to make that belief apparent to everyone. Examples include fencing off a property, mowing the lawn, planting flowers, putting up a garage, and so on. With an easement granted by the express language of a deed, the bar is even higher under Pennsylvania law. Essentially it must be shown that the party claiming he extinguished an easement carried out a visible, notorious and continuous adverse and hostile use of the land which is inconsistent with the use made and rights held by the easement holder, not merely possession which is inconsistent with another's claim of title.