Estate Planning

ESTATE PLANNING INSIGHTS By Ethan R. Okura and Carroll Dortch On Nov. 2, the proposed Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 was released to the public. The Republican-sponsored bill introduced by the U.S. House of Representatives is intended to simplify America’s tax code. It offers many changes, which we will review in this column.....

ESTATE PLANNING INSIGHTS By Ethan R. Okura There have been many political changes in the federal government over the past year. With a Republican president in office and a Republican majority in the Congress, some people are concerned about possibly losing the expanded health care benefits that were provided for in the Affordable Care Act,....

ESTATE PLANNING INSIGHTS By Ethan R. Okura One of the questions most frequently asked of us is: “Will I be responsible to pay for my mother’s (or father’s) nursing home expenses?” This can be a scary thought for a working woman who cannot provide physical care for her aging parent and who is looking at....

ESTATE PLANNING BY Carroll D. Dortch Carroll (Cary) D. Dortch received his doctor of jurisprudence degree from the University of New Hampshire School of Law. Did you know that there are some exemptions that you can employ to save on your property taxes in Hawai‘i? One of the most commonly used exemptions is the real....

ESTATE PLANNING INSIGHTS By Ethan R. Okura The Hawai‘i state Legislature recently passed two bills that will affect our elderly population and their health care. One was Senate Bill 534, the Kupuna Caregivers Act; the other was House Bill 1396, Relating to Community Care Foster Family Homes. Gov. David Ige signed both bills into law.....

ESTATE PLANNING INSIGHTS By Ethan R. Okura One of the most important things you should do as you work on your estate planning is to authorize someone to make decisions on your behalf should you become incapacitated and can no longer make your own decisions. The person you authorize is called your agent. You can....

ESTATE PLANNING INSIGHTS By Ethan R. Okura In last month’s column, I discussed the different types of nursing homes and long-term care facilities available in Hawai‘i. We covered ARCH, adult foster homes and nursing homes. Although we did not discuss them, there are also assisted living facilities, which are an important component of elder care.....

ESTATE PLANNING INSIGHTS By Ethan R. Okura Over the years, we have had hundreds of clients who have gone to nursing homes to provide for their care as they aged. Some lived full, rich, engaged lives in the nursing home until the very end. Others suffered from severe physical disabilities or dementia that prevented them....

ESTATE PLANNING INSIGHTS By Ethan R. Okura Spring is in the air! So what does that mean? It means it’s time to do your spring cleaning — time to get rid of all the junk that you’ve accumulated over the past year, deep-clean the house and freshen it up. It also means that it’s time....

ESTATE PLANNING INSIGHTS By Ethan R. Okura As you probably know, the United States is one of the most litigious countries in the world, with more people suing each other than almost anywhere else in the world. There is one lawyer for every 252 citizens in the U.S., as compared to only one lawyer for....