When it comes to helping clients who may be the victim of undue influence, it can be difficult, if not seemingly impossible, to recognize the signs of its existence. This is mostly because undue influence is a process rather than a single event, and one that occurs in private between the influencer and influenced person. While undue influencers can exert their will through outright threats, more often than not, their influence is through subtle manipulation. Because of these factors, cases of undue influence rarely have clear, direct evidence. As such, litigators tend to rely mostly on circumstantial evidence to prove its occurrence.

Having a successful legal practice has nothing to do with chance. When it comes to running a practice, attorneys often focus too much on working in their business rather than on their business. What do we mean by this? When you’re working in your business, you are focused on clients’ legal matters and wearing your attorney hat. Working on your business, you’re focused on entrepreneurial activities and wearing your business owner hat. Many attorneys struggle with this balancing act. And, when we forget to work on our business, then practice growth can stagnate and client satisfaction can erode.  

To face the mounting challenges of today—like market unpredictability, inefficiency, and competition with other attorneys and non-traditional legal service providers—working on your law firm and how it will address these issues is paramount. While this may seem like a daunting task, the answer might well be a simple one: business diversification. By diversifying your business offerings to include more than one legal service, attorneys can protect their business from an unstable/unpredictable market, add value to their practice, and increase their competitive edge.

In estate planning, tax issues are pervasive, and mitigating their effect on a client’s estate is a major component of an estate planner’s job. In order to effectively spot issues and provide more comprehensive advice, estate planners need at least a basic understanding of tax concepts. Having knowledge of tax issues may be the difference between representing a client entirely “in house” and losing the client altogether by referring them to the tax attorney or CPA down the street.

Let’s begin with three important foundational tax concepts—income tax basis, transfer basis, and stepped-up basis. Understanding these terms is key to determining any income tax consequences on the sale or transfer of the asset.