Wills, Trusts, & Estate Planning

Read Bankruptcy Law updates, alerts, news, and legal analysis from leading lawyers and law firms:

News & Analysis as of June 19, 2013

May the Trustee’s Personal Debt to the Trust Owed as a Result of a Breach of Trust be Discharged in Bankruptcy?

by Charles E. Rounds, Jr. on 6/3/2013

The U.S. Bankruptcy Code provides that a personal debt is not dischargeable if the debt had been occasioned by the debtor’s defalcation while acting in a fiduciary capacity. Courts of appeals had long disagreed about the...more

Fifth Circuit Rules that Inherited IRAs Are Exempt under Code

by Butler, Snow, O'Mara, Stevens and Cannada,... on 6/8/2012

Originally posted in the ABI Journal, Vol. XXXI, No. 5, June 2012. Editor’s Note: For additional perspective on inherited IRAs, read the May 2011 cover article and a letter to the editor published in the July/August 2011...more

Using Retirement Accounts for Asset Protection

by Riggs Davie PLC on 7/4/2011

The tax benefits of retirement plans such as 401(k)s and Roth IRAs are well-known; but what many people do not know, is that such plans also provide an added benefit of asset protection. The assets contained within these...more

Fraudsters Beware - Homestead Exemptions Don't Always Work

by Brian Mahany on 9/3/2010

New tax court case limits the asset protection afforded to Florida residents by Florida's homestead law. If you transfer assets to avoid creditors, do not automatically assume that Florida's powerful homestead exemption will...more

Using Nondischargibility in Bankruptcy Against Financial Abusers of the Elderly

by William S. Wolfson,Esq., LLC on 11/29/2008

"Stealing the Old Lady's Bundle"? Getting back money from those who cheat elderly parents and then file Bankruptcy. Recovering Money and other property from those who abuse the trust of elderly people in their care or...more