Jamaica - The Artist and Estate Planning

Estate planning is of particular importance in the Art world.  However, many artist, like most folks, have not attended to getting their affairs in order.  Whether it is visual, musical or other art forms, it is important that the artist protect and preserve his or her intellectual property rights, his or her copyrights or his or her ownership of work produced in a physical form. 

I had a conversation during my recent visit to The National Gallery of Jamaica about Artists and Wills.  The museum has seen first hand what could happen to works on loan when an artist dies without making provisions for his art work.  Money and time can be saved when an artist makes his plans clear by having a Will and keeping it up to date. 

We all have loved ones we want to protect and assets to preserve and pass on.  Contact our offices at http://www.ythlaw.com/ for your estate planning needs.

Wills, Wills, and more Wills - Do You Have One?

Your Will is your opportunity to say what you want to say, give what you want to give, honor those you want to honor as the beneficiary of your stuff (whatever your stuff might be). There have been many strange, wonderful, provocative, even crazy (of course crazy is in the eye of the beholder!!!) Will mandates.

Here are an interesting few!!!

Now consider your own situation and contact us today!

Wills of the Rich and Famous

There are lessons for all of us in the planning or failure to plan of the rich and famous. I thought I would spend a few days looking at some rich and famous, contemporary and historical figures. What did they do right or wrong in their planning? Hindsight of course is 20/20 so let it work for our estate planning.

Last night as I was looking at Jeopardy this post came to mind. The question was "At his death in 1790, he left 200 year trust funds to the cities of Boston, MA and Philadelphia, PA?" Do you know the answer? It was Benjamin Franklin.

Franklin decided to leave funds to his native Boston and his adopted Philadelphia, on the condition that it be placed in a fund that would gather interest over a period of 200 years. Franklin's Philadelphia trust was used for a variety of loan programs to local residents. The money was used mostly for mortgage loans. When the trust came due, Philadelphia decided to spend it on scholarships for local high school students. Franklin's Boston trust fund was used to establish a trade school that, over time, became the Franklin Institute of Boston.

In this case, Franklin invested a small amount that accumulated a lot over a long period of time and made a difference in the lives of countless individuals. Rich or famous, a little or a lot, let us help you plan TODAY for tomorrow. Leave your comments here or contact us at www.ythlaw.com

2009 In Review

As the year 2009 comes to a close we reflect on estate planning:

In the news:

We learned from the deaths of many notables the importance of estate planning to all. How important it is to have a will and one that is up to date. The death of Michael Jackson, Farrah Fawsett and Senator Edward Kennedy all reflected different aspects of estate planning. See prior blogs on these issues starting back in July.

Top Blogs:

And the top blogs for 2009 are:

1/15/09 - 10 Reasons why you should have a will

1/27/09 - The 10 Hottest Estate Planning topics

2/9/09 - Hiring an Estate Planning attorney - 10 things that you should know

7/10/09 - Michael Jackson - 5 Estate Planning Lessons

7/22/09 - Planning for Non-traditional families

8/13/09 - Estate Planning - How do I get started

8/24/09 - Irrevocable Trust - When to Use

9/29/09 - Costly Estate Planning Mistakes

11/10/09 - Facebook, My Space, Linked In, Blog, Oh My

11/24/09 - Great Review o f My Book

12/19/09 - Tax Tips for your 2009 Taxes

Pick your top news stories and blogs. Contact us at http://www.ythlaw.com/

Charitable Estate Planning - Bequests

There are many ways to engage in charitable estate planning. One of the most basic ways to make a charitable gift is through a bequest, which anyone can make in their wills. A bequest is appealing to many people because they maintain control of their assets until they die. It is the easiest way to give, and it can also be changed at any time before the person dies.

The bequest is a statement in the will identifying assets that you want to leave and the charitable institution to which you want to leave the assets. This is the simpliest way to remember those institutions and charitable endeavors that were important to you during your lifetime.