Preservation | Family Wealth Protection & Planning

Do you have an irrevocable trust and now wish you could change its terms? Maybe you want to provide more asset protection to the beneficiaries or loosen rigid distribution standards. It’s possible to reach those goals, as well as others that might benefit you and your beneficiaries.

Your mobile phone rings showing a number from Washington, D.C. You answer and the voice on the other end says: “This is Mr. James, agent number 5706 with the Internal Revenue Service. You owe a significant amount in back taxes. We are preparing to bring criminal charges against you that may result in jail time unless you pay immediately. How would you like to pay? Credit card, prepaid card or wire transfer …”

How do you respond?

An Alabama probate judge entered an order recently sealing the probate court file, including the will, of Harper Lee, the famed author of “To Kill a Mockingbird.” Attorneys for the estate successfully argued public access should be restricted, in part, because the author would not have wanted her private financial information to be a matter of public discussion. Interestingly, despite being a notoriously private person, Lee chose to direct the disposition of her estate through a last will and testament, a historically public process.