NEW NOTARY REQUIREMENTS IN 2015
Effective January 1, 2015, each Notary Acknowledgement and Jurat (where a person is required "to be duly sworn to tell the truth") must now contain the following statement:
A notary public or other officer completing this certificate verifies only the identity of the individuals(s) who signed the document to which this certificate is attached, and not the truthfulness, accuracy, or validity of that document.
This language must be inserted in a box immediately preceding the caption which contains the State of California and the county in which the notary is performing the service.
The California Legislature calls this language a "consumer disclosure" and stated that the purpose is to reduce fraud.
The law was passed in August, 2014, and I was taken by surprise. Usually, there are many services and various continuing education classes which bring these types of changes to the attention of practitioners.
I learned the hard way. Clients delayed signing papers until January 5, 2015, and my standard Notary Acknowledgement from 2014 did not contain the new box. Back came the documents from the Recorder's Office. Clients had to sign again because there was no room to insert the box language before the Notary Acknowledgement - and the disclosure purpose to the consumer would not be accomplished.
If you are preparing or signing documents which require a Notary Acknowledgement or Jurat here in California, check to be sure the new box is in place. Apparently there were people who relied on the Notary to tell them whether what they were signing was true or correct. The only purpose for the Acknowledgement is to verify the identity of someone. The Jurat is more formal and requires the Notary to "swear in" the signer by asking the individual to raise his or her right hand, and "swear that the statement he or she makes therein is the truth." Contact an attorney if there is a question about the accuracy, truth or validity of a document.
Monday, March 30, 2015
Thursday, February 26, 2015
2015 Federal Estate and Gift Tax Exemptions
2015 arrived with a gift from the Internal Revenue Service to both individuals and professional advisers. Estate and gift tax exemptions increased or stayed the same.
Estate Tax: The estate of each individual who dies in 2015 may transfer up to $5,430,000 without paying estate tax ($90,000 more than the 2014 amount of $5,340,000). Generation Skipping Tax exemption also increased to $5,430,000.
Portability: A married couple may combine the individual exemptions to transfer $10,860,000 through a technique called "portability" with the filing of an estate tax return by the surviving spouse or estate executor. A box is checked on the return and that simple act reserves the right to transport the exemption and add it with the exemption of the second spouse to die. This is a much simpler process than the establishment of multiple trusts and segregation of assets which was necessary prior to portability.
Gift Tax Exemption: This remains the same as in 2014: $14,000 per year per person without impacting the lifetime estate tax exemption (currently set at $5,430,000 as described above). A married couple may transfer twice the exemption amount, $28,000, to a single recipient. There is no limit to the number of recipients. Neither the recipient or the giver pays a tax. Annual gifts are a method to reduce total estate value and can be very effective if undertaken systematically over many years.
At the current exemption amounts only an estimated 3,700 estates, 0.12% of the total number of decedent estates, will owe estate tax. Estate tax, also known as the "death tax", has become a non-issue for most residents and citizens of the United States. After years of uncertainty in Federal estate and gift tax and last hour Congressional votes and Presidential signings, the stability over the last 3 years is refreshing. There are so many other issues pending before Congress, it is unlikely estate and gift tax will be added to the mix, at least until a new President takes office in January, 2017.
If you have questions about how any of these taxes and exemptions apply to your estate, please call attorney Kathleen Wright at 408.499.2159 or email kathleen@kswrightlaw.com
Estate Tax: The estate of each individual who dies in 2015 may transfer up to $5,430,000 without paying estate tax ($90,000 more than the 2014 amount of $5,340,000). Generation Skipping Tax exemption also increased to $5,430,000.
Portability: A married couple may combine the individual exemptions to transfer $10,860,000 through a technique called "portability" with the filing of an estate tax return by the surviving spouse or estate executor. A box is checked on the return and that simple act reserves the right to transport the exemption and add it with the exemption of the second spouse to die. This is a much simpler process than the establishment of multiple trusts and segregation of assets which was necessary prior to portability.
Gift Tax Exemption: This remains the same as in 2014: $14,000 per year per person without impacting the lifetime estate tax exemption (currently set at $5,430,000 as described above). A married couple may transfer twice the exemption amount, $28,000, to a single recipient. There is no limit to the number of recipients. Neither the recipient or the giver pays a tax. Annual gifts are a method to reduce total estate value and can be very effective if undertaken systematically over many years.
At the current exemption amounts only an estimated 3,700 estates, 0.12% of the total number of decedent estates, will owe estate tax. Estate tax, also known as the "death tax", has become a non-issue for most residents and citizens of the United States. After years of uncertainty in Federal estate and gift tax and last hour Congressional votes and Presidential signings, the stability over the last 3 years is refreshing. There are so many other issues pending before Congress, it is unlikely estate and gift tax will be added to the mix, at least until a new President takes office in January, 2017.
If you have questions about how any of these taxes and exemptions apply to your estate, please call attorney Kathleen Wright at 408.499.2159 or email kathleen@kswrightlaw.com
Tuesday, October 21, 2014
Hello World!!
This is our first blog post from the newly started KSWright.law practice. We intend to fill this space with interesting tidbits and and gotchas from all over the estate law world.
We aim for once a month, starting in November. See you then!
We aim for once a month, starting in November. See you then!
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