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estate planning

01.06.2020

Heather Coleman Brooks Named Partner at ELPO Law

Heather Coleman Brooks Named Partner at ELPO Law Read More

01.06.2020

Heather Coleman Brooks Named Partner at ELPO Law

Heather Coleman Brooks Named Partner at ELPO Law Read More

06.23.2018

Consider Your Estate Plan Before Your Summer Vacation

By Heather Coleman, Attorney English, Lucas, Priest & Owsley, LLP Sweet summertime.  The sun shines bright, schools are out, and with no better time for a vacation, the roads and airports are jam-packed with travelers.  Whether scheduling a beach trip, a lake outing, or a mountain getaway,… Read More

05.10.2018

Attorney Leah Morrison speaks at WKU Accounting event

Attorney Leah Morrison speaks at WKU Accounting event Read More

11.29.2017

Common sense and trust distributions

By Leah Morrison, Attorney English, Lucas, Priest and Owsley, LLP When it comes to planning to avoid or minimize Federal Estate tax, there are four (almost) magic words that frequently appear in trust documents: health, education, support and maintenance, known in the trust and estate law industry as HEMS. Outside of the tax advantages of including HEMS in a trust document, these words also impact the administration of the trust. When a trust includes HEMS language, beneficiaries from the trust may receive funds from the trust for those type of expenses, and those only. A trustee is placed in charge of the trust. That trustee usually has broad latitude in determining how many distributions are made from the trust and in what amounts – but HEMS language is included to limit what those distributions may be used for. Trustees must ensure that the distributions fall under those categories. Trustees are often a lay person, and in many cases, a family member. This can make things particularly sticky and confusing, especially if there are disagreements among family members. Read More

10.26.2017

Treasury Department announces new limitations for pension and retirement plans, other changes for 2018

Each year, the Treasury Department examines the cost of living in the U.S. and adjusts limitations for retirement plans and many other similar items that affect taxpayers throughout the U.S. As has happened previously, the Treasury raised the limits for contributions to pensions and other retirement plans such as 401(k)s, 403(b)s and most 457 plans.  All of this helps today’s workers save for retirement with pre-tax dollars, which is a tremendous benefit. Our tax code requires the Secretary of the Treasury to make this adjustment. The biggest news is that the contribution limit to employer-sponsored retirement plans, such as the above-mentioned 401(k)s, etc., has gone from $18,000 for calendar 2017 to $18,500 for calendar 2018. If you were bumping up against this limit in 2017, you can now adjust and put in just a little bit more, which is always good news. Read More

10.12.2017

Attorney Nathan Vinson to present at insurance and estate planning workshop

Nathan Vinson Attorney Nathan Vinson will join two local insurance experts for an informative workshop on Thursday, Oct. 19. The workshop will be held at Van Meter Insurance Group, 1240 Fairway St., Bowling Green, Ky. The workshop is free and… Read More

01.17.2017

ELPO seeks estate planning, probate attorney

ELPO seeks estate planning, probate attorney Read More

04.26.2016

Welcome to Rebecca Simpson, estate planning attorney

We’re pleased to welcome Rebecca Simpson, who joined our firm as a senior attorney on April 18, 2016. Rebecca was most recently an attorney for Kentucky Legal Aid. She ran for Warren County Family Court Judge in 2014. She will serve as an estate planning attorney, among… Read More

11.03.2015

Five hard questions to ask yourself about your estate executor

By Elizabeth McKinney Attorney, English, Lucas, Priest and Owsley, LLP Most people don’t give much thought to who will be their estate executor. Often, the automatic choice is a spouse or a child. The person chosen is often the person closest to the person creating the will. But this isn’t always the best strategy. As we know, and you have no doubt seen at some point in your life, emotions run high after a death, and items that were near and dear to the decedent’s heart become prized possessions, and sometimes, those items are worth a lot of money. A prized piece of art may have much more than sentimental value. The executor of your estate may not be prepared to deal with all of these emotions, and if they’re someone close to you, they may find that they’re processing their own grief while trying to meet the demands of friends and family waiting to receive inherited items or money. This is why we recommend that those creating a will take a long, hard, objective look at who they choose as the executor of their estate and really examine if the person they’ve chosen is capable of carrying out your wishes without creating long-term problems for your family and friends. Read More