The older we get the more conscious we become of the need to put something in place to protect our heirs from the hardship of a death without estate planning. The present time is always the best time to take care of that.

            Sometimes we find ourselves in a situation where there is a need to change arrangements we have already made, for instance:

• We have an older trust that was made for reasons that are unnecessary now. For example the threshold for being liable for any estate taxes has increased from about $600,000 to about $12 million dollars in the last 20 years, yet people still have overly complex trust documents to deal with estate tax liability.
• Things have changed over time and you want to change your beneficiaries.
• You have a trustee that you no longer want to have serve, or who has died, and you want to make a change.
• You have a beneficiary who does not manage their money effectively and you want an alternative to leaving them a huge sum of money all at once.

Again, there is no time like the present to address these types of issues. Arizona Mobile Attorneys has extensive experience in this area and we stand ready to assist you in this endeavor.

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Often, a business, typically a limited liability company (“LLC”) is created as part of an estate plan. This is done because LLCs are somewhat informal business entities and are easy to administer compared to a Corporation. In addition, unlike a Trust, an LLC can continue in existence indefinitely. These types of arrangements are often used to deal with a specific asset, such as a home, vacation cottage, or other real estate. A new federal law called “The Corporate Transparency Act” is going into effect January 1, 2024 with new requirements for companies and very severe penalties for noncompliance, with civil penalties up to $500 per day, with a maximum cap of $10,000. Willfully providing false information in such reporting carries a prison sentence of up to two years.

These penalties are applied to beneficial owners and senior company officers.

This law requires the disclosure by companies of the beneficial ownership in the company (any individual who owns at least 25% of the company is considered a beneficial owner). A new system called BOSS will be made available for companies to report this online. Companies that already exist as of January 1, 2024 will have until the end of the year to comply. Newly formed companies will have 30 days to do so from formation or registration.

At Arizona Mobile Attorneys we assist clients in the formation of businesses and related estate and succession planning. Please call us to arrange an appointment.

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