Serving in a fiduciary role carries with it a standard of conduct that is governed by state law. As one of our recent cases illustrates, failing to meet that standard can carry serious outcomes – especially when the victim is a vulnerable adult. (In this article, we will use certain terms for the parties to a POA: principal , which refers to the person who granted the POA, and agent , or “attorney in fact,” which describes the person to whom the POA was granted.) On the day before Smith passed way, Miller, acting as Smith’s agent under the POA,…

Asset protection can take assets that are subject to legal claims and reposition them beyond the reach of creditors.   First came the requests to review estate plans, take a fresh look at family and financial issues, discuss long-term care options, reconsider powers of attorney and selections of personal representatives and successor trustees, and update wills and trusts.    The second wave has been sparked by new interest in a planning option for which many clients had previously assumed they were ineligible: asset protection.     IS ASSET PROTECTION FOR YOU?   As we discuss further…

After expiring on June 30, the PPP business loan program is back in business for at least a few more weeks. Over the Fourth of July weekend, President Trump signed legislation that extends the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) for five weeks. The PPP had expired last Tuesday, with $130 billion in uncommitted loan money. It resumed accepting applications Monday and will continue through August 8. The PPP provides loans designed to provide a direct incentive for small businesses (including sole proprietorships and independent contractors) and private not-for-profit entities to keep their workers on the payroll. The program offers generous terms…

To help our LLC clients avoid the new law’s unfavorable default provisions, we offer a $750 flat-fee option for updating most operating agreements. Given the turmoil of the last few months, many LLC managers and members have been focused more on their business’s survival than on its governance. Nevertheless, in less than three months – September 1, to be precise – the 2018 Arizona Limited Liability Company Act (ALLCA) goes into full effect, totally replacing Arizona’s original LLC statutes. Will you be ready? The new law imposes various default provisions that, if not affirmatively addressed, could undermine some of the…

An underpublicized provision of the federal CARES Act offers a tax savings for many retirement-age Americans and could buy time for retirement portfolios to recover from the market downturn.  Last month we published a summary of recently enacted financial relief measures for individuals and businesses. The summary included some major provisions of the federal CARES Act. The $3 trillion package was so enormous that relatively little attention has been paid to one provision that, for roughly one in five retirement-age Americans, represents a significant tax savings: the waiver of required minimum distributions (RMDs) from individual account retirement plans* and individual…

Ryan Scharber has been accepted for volunteer service by the Napa Legal Institute and serves on its Corporate Governance Working Group and Planned and Charitable Giving Working Group.…

In an effort to give financial relief to business owners, workers, and taxpayers during the coronavirus pandemic, the federal government has issued a dizzying array of legislative and policy initiatives. Keeping up with the new laws and deadlines is as challenging as it is important. To help you (and us) sort it all out, we are offering this list of 13 issues that might benefit or otherwise affect you , with brief descriptions and links to more information. (The links should provide a starting point for your own independent research.)…