Every time a celebrity couple splits up news sources start asking questions about prenuptial agreements. It’s been no different during the past few weeks as news and speculation about Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes’ divorce leaks out. But prenuptial agreements aren’t only for celebrities, and they aren’t only for the rich and famous. In fact, any person with significant assets, or with the potential to acquire significant assets, should strongly consider signing a prenup before walking down the aisle.

A recent article from Fox Business News points out that “While prenups are most common if either party has substantial assets, children from a prior marriage, high income or has lost assets to a previous spouse… individuals might also want to plan successions related to family businesses or protect parental trusts that have been set up for either party.”

Discussing a prenup with your fiancé doesn’t have to take the romance out of the coming nuptials. In fact, considering a prenuptial agreement—discussing your financial values and planning for your financial future together—can be a valuable bonding experience for a young couple. With the right guidance from a knowledgeable individual, a prenuptial agreement can bring two people closer together.

But a prenuptial agreement isn’t something that can be thrown together at the last minute; it requires planning, research and discussion. Don’t wait too long before broaching the subject with your fiancé and your attorney. Make sure your new life together starts off on strong and secure financial footing.

How dead do you have to be before the government can tap your estate for estate taxes? Do you have to be only kind of dead, or do you have to be fully dead-dead? This is the subject of a new law review article by Adam Chodorow of the Arizona State University law school, as well as the topic under discussion in this tongue-in-cheek article in the New York Times.

When it comes to the legal rights of the undead Chodorow believes that “The important question is determining whether zombies should be considered truly deceased or partly alive. That distinction is crucial financially.” The article continues searching for answers to this and other particularly unusual questions in a hilarious but educational vein. Never has estate planning been so interesting—or trendy!—and yet readers will find themselves learning a little bit about the law in spite of themselves. Consider the following:

“But there are some tax downsides to zombiedom. When you actually die — for clarity, let’s call this ‘die-die’ — the appreciation in the value of your assets is wiped out for tax purposes. Say a vintage car you bought for $50,000 is worth $100,000 when you die-die. Under I.R.S. rules, this doesn’t cost your heirs taxes on the $50,000 gain when they sell it. Instead, the car is valued at $100,000.”

It’s the Stepped-up basis rule applied to the undead.

The article is obviously written in fun, but it brings up some legal issues that even the living would do well to think about. There have been a lot of changes to gift tax and estate tax law in the past few years, and if you haven’t created your estate plan, or if you have an estate plan but haven’t reviewed or updated it recently, you may have worse things to worry about than a zombie apocalypse. Call our office and make sure your assets and your family are protected from every kind of disaster.

Here is a Fox Business article with good points about why you need a Will, but it fails to mention that having a Will instead of a comprehensive estate plan means your family may be forced to go through probate in California. Probate, if it can be avoided, should be avoided by having a Living Trust drafted to address the concerns mentioned in this article. The trust takes the place of the Will and avoids probate.

When legislation in 2010 raised the lifetime gift tax exclusion amount from $1 million to $5 million many wealthy families rejoiced, expecting that they would now be able to give large gifts to children or grandchildren and be able to save millions in taxes at the same time. But for all the rejoicing, the unsteady economy has made many people cautious, and has parents and grandparents thinking twice before giving away wealth that they may need themselves in later years.

According to this article in Bloomberg Business Week, however, the time has come for families to take a careful look at their finances and decide if they want to take advantage of the $5 Million gift tax exclusion before it expires. “Legislation enacted in 2010, which raised the lifetime gift-tax exclusion to $5 million from $1 million for each person starting last year, is set to expire. For 2012, the inflation- adjusted figure is $5.12 million for each person. It will drop to $1 million on Jan. 1 unless Congress acts.”

Parents who want to take advantage of the gift tax exclusion, but who worry that their children may not yet be ready to handle such a large financial gift, do have options. As the article points out, “Many [families] are setting up irrevocable trusts for children or grandchildren and transferring assets such as second homes that have the potential to appreciate.” This not only allows the assets to appreciate, but also allows parents and grandparents to breathe easy while young children or grandchildren have time to mature before receiving a gift or inheritance.

If you think your family may benefit from taking advantage of the gift tax exclusion before the end of the year, please contact our office. We can help you explore your options and learn more about what legal changes may be in store in the coming year.

Do you know how much your 401(k) is costing you? Are you sure? What most people don’t know is that many employees with “free” retirement plans through an employer actually pay a number of hidden fees. According to a recent article in the Huffington Post, “71 percent of plan participants don’t think they pay any fees for their company’s retirement plan. In reality, they pay a variety of fees including investment management, administrative and advisory fees, and more — investment management fees usually comprising the bulk of the expenses.”

All of this is about to change, however, thanks to new laws being enacted by the Department of Labor. CNN Money reports that “A new federal rule took effect July 1 that requires 401(k) plan providers to disclose certain 401(k) fees, and employers to distribute these disclosures to plan participants by Aug. 30.” The hope with this new disclosure rule is that it will increase transparency, and help both employees and employers stay aware of how much their “free” 401(k) may or may not be costing them in administrative fees.

We live in a culture of constant demands and distractions, and it is all too easy to fill out the paperwork to set up a 401(k) with an employer and then forget about it, assuming that as long as nothing changes, everything will keep working the way it’s supposed too. Things do change, however, both in the world of investment and in our own lives. All too often we see clients who miscalculate their 401(k) growth in relation to their retirement needs, or whose valuable retirement savings is lost to taxes when the owner passes away unexpectedly. In all cases, it is important not only to be aware of what’s happening to your savings, but also to be proactive about protecting it, and this is where our office can help.

Whether you are already retired or just getting started with your savings, our firm can help you evaluate your assets, plan for their growth and upkeep, and ensure that they end up in the right hands if something should happen to you. The temptation to procrastinate or bury your head in the sand can be strong, but the knowledge of the consequences of inaction can be stronger. Contact our office and let us help you protect your retirement savings for yourself and your loved ones.