Estate Planning

ESTATE PLANNING INSIGHTS By Ethan R. Okura In last month’s column, I focused on the history of Medicaid and discussed some of the difficulties that arise when dealing with Medicaid’s many laws, rules and policies. I also told you about some of the problems that people have encountered when applying for Medicaid on their own....

ESTATE PLANNING INSIGHTS By Ethan R. Okura Back in December of 2009, my father, Sanford K. Okura, wrote an excellent article titled “Tenants by the Entirety.” It explained the pros and cons of holding property as “tenants by the entirety” as opposed to holding them in revocable trust(s). At the time, tenants by the entirety....

Ethan R. Okura Hawai‘i Herald Columnist Sometimes you can do everything right, but still have everything go horribly wrong. Sometimes you do nothing at all and still have everything go very wrong. In the United States, you are innocent until proven guilty, except when it comes to fraudulent student loans that are taken out in....

Ethan R. Okura Hawai‘i Herald Columnist There are at least five names for legal documents that include the word “will:” will, last will and testament, pour-over will, living will and ethical will. I will explain each...

ESTATE PLANNING By Ethan R. Okura

Ethan R. Okura Hawai‘i Herald Columnist In last month’s issue, we discussed the privacy of wills and trusts while a person is living. In this issue, we will focus on the privacy of wills and trusts...

Ethan R. Okura Hawai‘i Herald Columnist On Dec. 20, 2019, the Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement — or SECURE — Act was signed into law by President Trump. The SECURE Act made some major changes to the way that retirement accounts must be distributed, especially after the original account holder passes away. Most....

Ethan R. Okura Hawai‘i Herald Columnist Before you put real estate into a revocable trust, you should consider your age, your health, whether you might refinance or sell your home someday, whether your death might result...

Ethan R. Okura Hawai‘i Herald Columnist In last month’s column, I introduced you to the basics of international estate planning. I explained the Internal Revenue Service’s definitions of a U.S. citizen, a non-resident alien and a resident alien. The definition of a resident alien is different for income tax purposes and for gift and estate....

Ethan R. Okura Hawai‘i Herald Columnist Last month, I explained the reverse mortgage. I advised that if you need money and if leaving an inheritance is not a concern, a reverse mortgage may be a good...