E. Denver Vold appeared on the Moneyline radio show on Saturday July 31, 2010. Denver and host Peter Newman, CPA, discussed the following topics:

1. How a residence should be titled for purposes of probate avoidance, income tax avoidance and Estate Tax avoidance:

(a) when the client has no living trust
(b) when the husband and wife have a single living trust for both of them
(c) when the clients have a living trust for wife and living trust for husband.

2. How a residence should be titled after the first spouse is deceased and the surviving spouse desires to avoid probate, get a “step up” in basis when the second spouse dies and how a transfer of the residence from the deceased spouse’s trust to the surviving spouse’s trust can be done without transfer of assets to the surviving spouse’s estate. The discussion also explained how the value of the residence will not be included in the surviving spouse’s estate for estate tax purposes and will receive second step up in basis when the surviving spouse dies.

3. Who should be named the primary beneficiary of IRAs in a manner that avoids mandatory required minimum distribution for the (payment of income tax) for the longest period of time.

4. Why naming children as secondary or contingent IRA beneficiary may result in accidently disinheriting some, but not all of grandchildren.

5. How to allow children to defer payment of income taxes for years and even decades by adding special tax language to living trust documents.

Denver appeared on the Peter Newman Show and answered a listener’s question about “special needs trusts” and explained the necessity of having existing special needs trusts reviewed because new statutory requirements may invalidate the existing trusts.

Denver went on to explain that these new laws make the trust property an existing asset which the state requires to be used up before state aid is available.  Listeners were advised to call our law firm for additional information.

On Saturday, May 30, 2009, Denver will talk about how the elderly and people with special needs can get state funds sooner even if they have assets.