Bouman Law Firm

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Thomas J. Bouman

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Summary: A new federal reporting requirement for non‑financed transfers to irrevocable trusts.Effective March 1, 2026, the new FinCEN Residential Real Estate Reporting Rule requires a federal filing whenever residential real estate is transferred without financing to a trust or other legal entity.  This reporting requirement applies to irrevocable trusts and other non‑grantor entities, but it does not apply to standard revocable living trusts.  A designated ‘reporting person’ involved in the closing—typically the title company or closing attorney—must submit a Real Estate Report to FinCEN identifying the property, the parties, and the trust’s beneficial owners.  This nationwide rule replaces prior limited reporting

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Continue Reading New FinCEN Residential Real Estate Reporting Rule

Summary:  Increase in federal estate tax exemption affects testamentary powers of appointment.If your estate plan includes an inheritance protection trust for a child or other non‑spouse beneficiary, that trust likely gives the beneficiary a testamentary power of appointment.  This power allows the beneficiary, at their death, to decide who should receive any remaining trust assets.  When estate tax exposure was a common concern, this power had to be drafted as a limited power—meaning the beneficiary could redirect assets only among a defined group of people and never to themselves or their creditors.  A limited power of appointment keeps the trust

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Continue Reading Increase in Federal Estate Tax Exemption Affects Testamentary Powers of Appointment

Maybe you are new to Estate Planning and would like a collection of brief articles to provide clarity and confidence as you build your estate plan?Well, this 35 page booklet is for you.  We share this with prospective clients as a professionally spiral-bound booklet, but you can get it all right here as a downloadable PDF.  No email address or credit card required.
A Practical Guide to Estate PlanningA collection of brief articles to provide clarity and confidence as you build your estate plan.

Continue Reading New to Estate Planning?

The recent OBBB Act passed by Congress and signed by President Trump on July 4, 2025 sets a new $15,000,000 estate tax exclusion amount for persons who die in 2026.  Without this change the amount would have decreased to approximately one-half of that amount.  The exclusion amount is scheduled for an inflation adjustment each year after 2026.  

Continue Reading New Estate Tax Exclusion Amount in 2026

I endorse the Fraud Notify program administered by the Pima County Recorder office.  Fraud Notify is a simple way to help you avoid becoming a victim of property fraud.  It is a free service for the benefit of all who own property or businesses in Pima County.  Fraud Notify allows you to set up an alert for your individual or business name, and when a document is recorded with your name on it, you will be notified by email.  This gives you an early warning of potential property fraud being committed in your name.   After submitting the initial registration form online,

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Continue Reading Home Title Monitoring Program sponsored by Pima County

1.       What is an Arizona Home Equity Protection Trust?An Arizona home equity protection trust (“HEPT”) is an irrevocable trust designed to shield your home equity from future and unknown judgment creditors.  If your primary residence is high in value, and you have accumulated substantial home equity, then your home may become a prime target when someone accuses you of wrongdoing (whether legitimate or fraudulent).  You may already know that Arizona law protects up to $425,200 of home equity in a primary residence automatically (the “homestead exemption”), but homeowners with more home equity than provided by the homestead exemption should

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Continue Reading What You Should Know About Arizona Home Equity Protection Trusts

Summary:  Arizona law permits higher value assets to avoid probate using affidavits.In 2025, the Arizona legislature amended A.R.S. 14-3971, which increases the maximum value of real estate and personal property that may be transferred using a small estate affidavit after the death of the property owner.  Effective June 30, 2025, an heir or successor to real property may take ownership by filing an Affidavit for Transfer of Title of Real Property with the local probate court; provided, however, the deceased owner’s net equity does not exceed $300,000 (was $100,000).  Also effective June 30, 2025, an heir or successor to personal

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Continue Reading Arizona Small Estate Affidavits

The new year 2025 marks the entrance of Bouman Law Firm into the A/I digital age.  I am intentionally pursuing ways to integrate the use of LawY technology into my law practice.  There is much to explore about how to use A/I for legal research and customized drafting assistance, but I am excited to begin the process.  LawY blends cutting-edge A/I technology with human expertise in a manner that I believe will continue to improve the premium experience we offer to our clients. -Tom

Continue Reading Ready for the A/I digital age

This brief video summarizes the mechanics of an Arizona-based asset protection trust.  Although Arizona law does not permit the use of self-settled asset protection trusts like some other states do, an Arizona resident may establish an Arizona-based irrevocable trust that provides asset protection for all parties involved.  The key to making it work is to name other people as beneficiaries of your trust, such as your spouse and/or children, while prohibiting distributions to yourself.    

Continue Reading What is an Arizona Irrevocable Asset Protection Trust?

I will give you a premium experience. My process will help you accomplish a very important task in a relatively brief amount of time.  I do this by asking the right questions, explaining your options in a concise manner, and then using technology to build your estate plan with the latest tools and techniques of estate planning.Estate and trust law is a very formidable beast to tame, but rest assured, I aspire to mastery of the subject matter, and you will work directly with me.    

Continue Reading My USP (Why Should You Hire Me?)

Determine how the asset is titled:
  • Is there a surviving joint owner?  If yes, then simply remove the name of the deceased owner. *
  • Is there a named beneficiary?  If yes, then transfer the asset to the beneficiary.
  • Is the asset owned by a trust?  If yes, then follow the terms of the trust document.
  • If none of the above, then the will governs. **

    •  *It is a good practice to wait several months before removing the deceased owner’s name from the primary checking account in case there are payments made to the deceased owner after death. **If the will governs,

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    Continue Reading Summary of Estate Administration Process in Two Steps

    Attention business owners:  If you’re the owner of a business, you will need to file the new Beneficiary Ownership Information form (BOI).  There are exceptions, but you probably won’t qualify for any of them.  The purpose of the BOI is to help the federal government combat money laundering and other illegal activities.  You can find the form online at www.fincen.gov/boi and it’s relatively easy to complete.  It took me about 10 minutes the first time I used it for myself.  The only tricky part is needing to upload a photo image of your driver license or passport.  I already had

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    Continue Reading FINCEN Corporate Transparency Act

  • Exposes the parent’s assets to the child’s creditors.  If the child is sued, the child must disclose the joint account to the court and plaintiff’s attorney.  The burden falls on the child to convince a court that the child contributed nothing and that the account really belongs to the parent.  Similarly, the account would be a reportable asset if the child filed for bankruptcy.
  • Eliminates the fiduciary duty a child would otherwise have.  A child as joint owner has no fiduciary duty to manage the account in the best interest of the parent.  By naming the child as agent or

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    Continue Reading Why do estate planning attorneys not recommend naming a child as joint owner of a personal bank account?

    1.       What is an Inheritance Protection Trust?An Inheritance Protection Trust is an irrevocable trust established through a deceased person’s estate plan typically for benefit of a surviving child.  Although the term “Inheritance Protection Trust” could generally describe many types of beneficiary trusts, it usually refers to a trust established for a responsible adult beneficiary who is willing and able to manage an inheritance.  This type of trust is usually drafted to continue for the lifetime of the beneficiary (or until all assets have been spent), rather than end at a predetermined time or age of the beneficiary.     The beneficiary

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    Continue Reading Inheritance Protection Trust