Jeffrey R. Matsen

Asset Protection and Marital Planning

Copyright (c) 2011 Jeffrey Matsen Community Property and the Division of Community Property between Spouses a. Introduction California is a community property State and under California law: 1) Community property is generally property acqui... Read >

Domestic Asset Protection Trusts

Copyright (c) 2011 Jeffrey Matsen As a general rule, self settled trusts are not protected from creditors. However, recently the States of Alaska, Delaware, Nevada, Rhode Island, Colorado, Missouri, Utah and South Dakota have provided various degrees... Read >

Limited Liability Companies and Operating Agreements

Copyright (c) 2011 Jeffrey Matsen The Limited Liability Company (LLC) is a flexible form of entity that is designed to provide the protective features of a corporation, with the tax advantages and operational flexibility of a partnership. The LLC is a... Read >

Limited Liability Companies Protect Assets and Reduce Taxes

Copyright (c) 2011 Jeffrey Matsen One of the most effective methods of estate planning and asset protection is to hold personal or business assets in a limited liability company (LLC) or limited partnership (LP), rather than owning such assets directly... Read >

Types of LLCs and Steps to LLC Formation

Copyright (c) 2011 Jeffrey Matsen Only one person is necessary to organize a California LLC and he/she need not be a member or manager. The California Secretary of State furnishes Form LLC-1 which must be used for the Articles of Organization. The ... Read >

Transfereing property in California for Estate Planning Purposes

Copyright (c) 2011 Jeffrey Matsen The FLP has the double benefit of allowing the survivor's full step up of basis of the underlining partnership assets for income tax purposes after the first death and following the survivor's death the limited partner... Read >

Gifting and Discounts of Family Limited Partnership Interest

Copyright (c) 2011 Jeffrey Matsen The Family Limited Partnership is set up so that the transferor can contribute assets to the FLP in exchange for both general and limited partner interests. The general partners maintain virtually all of the power a... Read >

Transferes into a Family Limited Partnership or LLC

Copyright (c) 2011 Jeffrey Matsen A Family Limited Partnership or LLC is typically utilized in an estate plan as a vehicle for making "leveraged" or "discounted" gifts to children or other family members and loved ones. The FLP is simply stated a part... Read >

Family Limited Partnerships and Valuations and Estate Tax Consequences Recent Cases Part 2

Copyright (c) 2011 Jeffrey Matsen Over the last two and one-half years or so, there have been several cases decided involving Family Limited Partnerships and Limited Liability Companies and valuation issues or inclusion in the federal gross estate purs... Read >

Drafting The Operating Agreement

Copyright (c) 2010 Jeffrey Matsen Prior to the formation of the LLC, the members should consider and analyze the various factors involved in selecting the appropriate form of business entity. The gathering of the essential data and information about t... Read >

The Real Cost of Probate

Copyright (c) 2010 Jeffrey Matsen When a close relative or friend dies there are several important legal and taxation matters to be addressed. If the deceased person has a certain amount of property, you may need to initiate probate proceedings. Probat... Read >

Beating the IRS

Copyright (c) 2009 Jeffrey Matsen Its not often that you beat the IRS and have them refer you clients later, however this was the case in this true story about a small business owner. Peter was the President of a small manufacturing company and acte... Read >

An Ounce of Prevention (and Proper Planning) Can Offset a Pound or More of Liability

Copyright (c) 2009 Jeffrey Matsen Recently I had two different sets of clients come in to me with major legal problems. As you will be able to perceive after reading this article, these problems could have been drastically mitigated or even eliminated... Read >

HOW TO AVOID PROBATE - ALMOST

Copyright (c) 2009 Jeffrey Matsen Most of us have heard that Probate is something to be avoided. Simply put, Probate is the legal process by the means of which the court system oversees the administration of your estate when you die. It supervises th... Read >

FDIC Insurance for Corporate Accounts

Copyright (c) 2009 Jeffrey Matsen Recently, upheavals in the lending industry and bank failures have led many depositors to be concerned over the safety of their bank accounts. As most people are aware, a large number of banks and credit unions are cov... Read >