The Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement Act of 2019 (SECURE Act) was signed into law on December 20, 2019 and became effective on January 1, 2020. The SECURE Act makes over two dozen changes to the law affecting retirement benefits and inherited IRAs (Individual Retirement Accounts). The revisions also apply to other defined contribution… Continue reading How Does The New Federal SECURE Act Affect Your Estate Plan for IRAs & 401(k) Plans?
Before 2008, there was no way in Oklahoma for real property or mineral rights to skip probate except for a revocable trust. In 2008, the Oklahoma legislature passed 58 O.S. Section 1251-1258. This statute codified Oklahoma's Transfer on Death Deed ("TODD"), otherwise known as a "beneficiary deed." This allows the owners of real property, including… Continue reading Oklahoma’s Transfer on Death Deeds
The attorney of Skillern Law Firm, PLLC, Penni Skillern, recently had a baby girl in January of 2015. Yes, that is why there was a lack of blog posts and updates on our website. The first thing she did when she was able to go back to work was update her estate plan to reflect… Continue reading Estate Planning for Your New Expanded Family
Oklahoma permits the distribution of a small estate without probate, if the estate is worth $50,000 or less in total. There are two ways to avoid probate using affidavits in Oklahoma - one for financial accounts, one for personal property. The first type of "Small Estate Affidavit" allowed in Oklahoma is one for financial accounts… Continue reading Oklahoma Small Estate Affidavit
In 2003, the United States Department of Health and Human Services enacted regulations under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996, or as it is more commonly known, “HIPAA”. Under this new law, medical providers can face serious sanctions and monetary fines for releasing unauthorized “Protected Health Information,” usually meaning medical records. As a result, medical… Continue reading HIPAA Authorizations – Why They Are Important
A creator or grantor of a normal revocable living trust usually serves as the trustee of a trust until their incapacity or death. After one of those events, a successor trustee takes over the trust to manage and administer the trust assets. Some trust creators have two children or have two people they trust enough… Continue reading The Problems of Successor Co-Trustees in a Trust
When handling people's estate plans, I am often asked how life insurance, retirement accounts, and other “beneficiary” property should be handled with regards to the young children. More often than not, people with children want some or all of the proceeds of these accounts to go to their minor children. For example, if a client… Continue reading (Minor) Children in Your Estate Planning
Know you need an estate plan, but don't know what you need or where to start? Call our offices today for a FREE CONSULTATION with our Attorney, Penni Skillern, Esq. Our attorney takes a comprehensive and integrated approach to estate planning. Your estate plan should complete your vision, goals, values, and needs for the… Continue reading Call for a Free Consultation!
Whenever an attorney creates a Revocable Living Trust for a client, the trust needs to be funded. "What does it mean to fund a trust?" is a common question that our attorney at the Skillern Law Firm gets from clients. It is a very important step in the estate planning process. To see what a Revocable… Continue reading Funding A Revocable Trust
If you do not have a Revocable Living Trust, your estate will need to be probated or be small enough for a simple affidavit. Probate is the legal process required for estate administration and asset distribution. To read more specifically about what probate is, read our previous post "what is probate." One important thing about… Continue reading Oklahoma’s Simplified Probate
