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Dana Wills Joins Wills Law Firm, PLLC

Robbie Wills — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 02:06:06 +0000

Dana Wills has joined the Wills Law Firm as a government affairs consultant.

Dana is a Certified Public Accountant and has been married to Robbie Wills for 12 years. Dana graduated with honors from Oklahoma State University with a degree in Accounting and earned her Masters of Business Administration from the University of Central Arkansas. She has extensive experience in the governmental accounting, telecommunications and technology sectors. Dana has worked for the Oklahoma State Auditor and Inspectors’ office, Alltel Communications, Windstream Communications, and joins the firm after five years with Acxiom Corporation, where she served as a Director of Finance for the company’s largest business group. Dana is well-known to Legislators and their spouses and brings a wealth of political experience to the firm.

Dana enjoys cooking, running, Razorback sports and volunteering in her church and community.

Dana Wills Joins Wills Law Firm, PLLC is a post from: Wills Law Firm, PLLC

Resolve in 2012 to Plan Your Estate

Robbie Wills — Mon, 28 Nov 2011 14:33:24 +0000

Many people have the best of intentions when it comes to planning their estate: “I’ve been meaning to write a Living Will for some time.” “I’ve been trying to make time to set up a Trust for years.” “Another year almost gone and I still have no idea what would happen to my property if I were to pass away now.”

These are all common statement we hear from clients this time of year. There’s no time like the present to set all these matters right with some basic estate planning tools.

Estate planning is a process involving the counsel of professional advisors who are familiar with your goals and concerns, your assets and how they are owned, and your family structure. It can involve the services of a variety of professionals, including your lawyer, accountant, financial planner, life insurance advisor, banker and broker. Estate planning covers the transfer of property at death as well as a variety of other personal matters and may or may not involve tax planning. Estate planning services provided by this office include:

WILLS – The core document most often associated with the estate planning process is the will. Wills can be of various degrees of complexity and can be utilized to achieve a wide range of family and tax objectives. If you die intestate (without a will), your state’s laws of descent and distribution will determine who receives your property by default. A will provides for the distribution of property owned by you at the time of your death in any manner you choose. If a will provides for the outright distribution of assets, it is sometimes characterized as a “simple will.” If the will establishes one or more trusts, it is often called a “testamentary trust will.” Alternatively, the will may leave probate assets to a preexisting living trust (created in your lifetime), in which case it is called a “pour over will.”
TRUSTS – Trusts are legal arrangements in which you, the grantor, place assets in trust for the benefit of others, the beneficiaries. Simply put, a trust is a way of holding title to your assets. Trusts are invaluable estate planning tools that can be set up under the provisions of your will, or established during your lifetime. The term “living trust” is generally used to describe a trust (a) which you can create during your lifetime, and (b) which you can revoke or amend whenever you wish to do so. While you are living, the trustee (who may be you) is generally responsible for managing the property as you direct for your benefit. Upon your death, the trustee is generally directed to either distribute the trust property to your beneficiaries, or to continue to hold it and manage it for their benefit. Like a will, a living trust can provide for the distribution of property upon your death. Unlike a will, it can also (a) provide you with a vehicle for managing your property during your life, and (b) authorize the trustee to manage the property and use it for your benefit (and your family) if you should become incapacitated, thereby avoiding the appointment of a guardian for that purpose. A living trust also allows you to keep assets out of the expensive probate process. A living trust is usually drafted by an estate attorney in coordination with your accountant and/or other financial professional. Your wishes, goals, and financial situation are reviewed so that a complete, carefully designed trust is enacted.
OTHER SERVICES – Other services our office provides include Powers of Attorney, Living Wills, Annual Gift Tax Exclusions, Irrevocable Life Insurance Trusts, Family Limited Partnerships, Children’s or Grandchildren’s Irrevocable Education Trusts, Charitable Remainder Interest Trust, Fractional Interest Gifts.

If you have a well-drafted estate plan in place, you’ll ensure that your estate passes to whom you want, when you want, and is carried out in the manner you’ve chosen. You can rest assured that your family won’t have to endure the public process and costly matter of probate. The government won’t be able to take what you’ve spent a lifetime building. But you need to be aware of the many options that exist in estate planning – and you must choose your estate planning attorney wisely.

Call our office today at (501) 329-3179 to set up an appointment.

Resolve in 2012 to Plan Your Estate is a post from: Wills Law Firm, PLLC

Back-to-School Legal Tips

Robbie Wills — Thu, 28 Jul 2011 22:44:49 +0000

With the end of summer upon us, the start of the school year is just around the corner. If you have children or grandchildren they will soon be heading back to school or off to college. What better time to take the necessary legal steps to make sure that they are protected in case of an emergency?

Here are some tips:

For children under the age of 18, make sure that all of the people who take care of your children – grandparents, babysitters, older siblings, neighbors, family friends, etc. – have your up-to-date contact information, including changes to your cell phone numbers. Don’t forget the emergency contact list on your fridge or bulletin board.
For minor children it is also important that the appropriate people have the ability to make decisions about your child if you can’t be reached or are out of town. This is done by having an attorney draft the appropriate legal documents.
For children over the age of 18, make sure that he or she has executed the necessary health care power of attorney, financial power of attorney, and HIPAA authorization prepared by an attorney. This is especially important if they are off to college because your “children” are now legally adults and you no longer have the power to make their financial decisions or access their medical information.

These steps can make a critical difference to the treatment your child receives in an emergency and also the information you will be able to receive as a parent if something happens to your child when you are unavailable.

The Wills Law Firm can assist you in making sure your children are protected. Contact us today at (501) 329-3179.

Back-to-School Legal Tips is a post from: Wills Law Firm, PLLC

New Estate Tax Law Can Trap the Unwary

Robbie Wills — Mon, 04 Jul 2011 17:41:05 +0000

The article below by Susan B. Garland, Editor, Kiplinger’s Retirement Report, was originally published in the April 2011 Issue of Kiuplinger’s Retirement Report. For more information on tuning up your estate plan, please contact the Wills Law Firm, PLLC today.

What a relief. Now that the federal estate-tax exemption is a record-high $5 million, owners of estates worth less no longer need to worry about leaving heirs with a tax bill. Or so you thought.

But think again: It may be time to see your lawyer for an estate-plan tune-up. Even if your estate falls well below the new federal limits, you could be snared by estate taxes imposed by your state. And if your current documents include certain kinds of trusts, you could unintentionally leave your spouse or children in bad shape.

Under the new law, you can leave up to $5 million to your heirs free of federal estate tax. Married couples can pass as much as $10 million tax-free to heirs. (A spouse can leave unlimited assets tax-free to his or her spouse.) Estates that exceed the exemption amounts will be taxed at a flat rate of 35%.

But these provisions are temporary, applying only for this year and next. If Congress and President Obama don’t reach a deal by the end of 2012, the estate tax will revert to its pre-Bush levels, when estates larger than $1 million were taxed at a rate of 55%. Although that’s unlikely, you must make sure your estate plans hold up no matter what Congress does. “You can choose to wait and see, but that could turn into wait and pay,” says Martin Shenkman, an estate lawyer in Paramus, N.J.

Besides the higher exemption amount, the new law includes a provision that’s designed to simplify estate planning for many couples. The new “portability” feature allows a surviving spouse to take the unused portion of the late spouse’s estate-tax exemption. For example, say a husband and wife each has $5 million. He leaves everything to her, using none of his exemption. When she dies, the portability provision enables her to leave $10 million tax-free to her heirs. Without portability, her heirs would benefit from just her $5 million exemption; the husband’s $5 million exemption would be wasted.

Congress intended that the portability provision would reduce the need for many couples to set up bypass trusts, also known as credit shelter trusts. With a bypass trust, the first spouse to die leaves assets to the trust worth up to the federal exemption amount, with the balance going tax-free to the surviving spouse. The trust is earmarked to the kids, but typically the survivor can tap trust income for living expenses. When the second spouse dies, the kids get the money in the trust tax-free, and the survivor can leave his or her own assets up to the exemption amount to the children or other heirs tax-free.

Despite the higher exemption and the portability feature, couples can still trip over tax land mines. One reason is that many existing trusts are funded by a formula that automatically funds the trust up to the federal estate-tax exemption limit.

Let’s say a husband created a trust years ago when the federal exemption was $1 million. If he dies in 2011 or 2012 with a $5 million estate, the entire amount will go into the trust — with the surviving spouse getting nothing of her own.

Even if you set up a trust today, you need to be careful because of the uncertainty over the estate tax’s future. Perhaps you have a $7 million estate and you want to create a bypass trust to preserve part of your estate for your children from your first marriage. You intend for the trust to hold the federal exemption amount of $5 million for your kids when you die, and for the balance to go to your second spouse.

If you die by the end of 2012, your kids will get their full inheritance. But what if you die in 2013 when the estate-tax exemption may be back to $1 million? If your trust is funded by a formula, your children will get $1 million and your second spouse will get an unintended windfall. “You should never use a tax-driven formula provision where the inheritance turns on the timing of death and state of the law,” says Jonathan Blattmachr, an estate lawyer at Milbank Tweed Hadley and McCloy.

To prevent that from happening, Blattmachr says, you should rewrite the trust to clearly state your intentions. “Your instructions should reflect your choices no matter if the exemption is $1 million or $5 million or there is no estate tax at all,” he says.

Another potential problem involves state estate taxes. The District of Columbia and 17 states impose their own estate levies. That means your heirs could be stuck with state estate taxes even if they don’t owe federal estate tax.

Consider the estate tax in New York, which imposes a levy on estates worth more than $1 million. An estate worth $5 million would pay no federal tax, but would owe $391,600 in state estate taxes, says Sanford Schlesinger, an estate lawyer at Schlesinger, Gannon and Lazetera, in New York City. In Connecticut, with a $3.5 million exemption, beneficiaries of a $5 million estate would be on the hook for $121,800 in estate levies, he says. Schlesinger says that in many states, there may be certain trusts that can save or defer the payment of state taxes. There is no portability for state estate taxes.

The Unintended Consequences of Portability

Even portability can be a problem, according to a number of estate lawyers. “Portability will be a disaster,” says Schlesinger. For one thing, he says, both spouses would have to die in 2011 or 2012 for portability to be certain to work.

Take a married couple who has $9 million. Because their estate is less than $10 million, they decide to forgo a bypass trust. The husband dies in 2011, and the entire estate goes to his wife. If she dies in 2012 and the estate is still $9 million, the kids get the estate tax-free.

But what if the wife instead dies in 2013 with a $9 million estate? If Congress does not extend portability, the kids will pay big time. Assuming the exemption remains $5 million, the heirs will pay estate tax on $4 million. The kids would owe nothing if the couple had protected the husband’s $5 million exemption amount in a bypass trust.

Congress could make portability permanent, but couples could still be at risk. Shenkman offers this scenario: Each spouse has $5 million, and the couple decides not to bother with a bypass trust. The husband dies. His assets grow to $7 million. At the wife’s death, the heirs will get $10 million tax-free, but pay federal tax of $700,000 on the excess $2 million. If the husband had placed his assets into a bypass trust, the $2 million growth would have been protected from estate tax.

New Estate Tax Law Can Trap the Unwary is a post from: Wills Law Firm, PLLC

NCSL Provides Resources on Pharmaceuticals

Robbie Wills — Fri, 13 May 2011 23:04:42 +0000

From State Legislatures Magazine, a publication of the National Conference of State Legislatures:

Prescription drugs continue as one of the more active health policy issues in 2010. NCSL has followed the state aspects of these issues for a number of years.

Back in 2007, researchers predicted that prescription drug spending would grow at an average annual rate of 8.6 percent until 2016. However, for 2008, actual annual growth in drug spending slowed drastically. A federally sponsored annual study documented annual growth of prescription drug spending at 3.2 percent, lower than any other major health care sector and the lowest level in 45 years. Within Medicaid, prescription drug spending decreased 1.8 percent, with 31 states reporting spending less in 2007 than in 2006.

Implementation of Part D has increased prescription drug use among beneficiaries who previously had limited or no drug coverage. However, the expected increase as a result of Part D is being offset by a deceleration in drug price growth.

In 2007, 67 percent of all prescription drugs dispensed in the United States were generics — an 18 percent increase from 2005. That is due in part to patent expirations for several brand-name drugs.

Spending on anti-depressants, anti-psychotic drugs, drugs to reduce cardiovascular risk, treat pain and insomnia was $127 billion in 2005 and was nearly two-thirds of the total $199 billion spent on all outpatient prescription medicines.
- $36 billion for prescription drugs to lower blood sugar, reduce cholesterol, or treat other metabolic problems.
- $33 billion for drugs to reduce high blood pressure and treat heart conditions.
- $26 billion for central nervous system drugs, including pain killers, sleep aids and attention-deficit disorder drugs.
- Anti-depressants and anti-psychotic drugs cost $17 billion,
- gastrointestinal drugs, including antacids and laxatives, cost consumers $15 billion.
As of mid 2010, 38 states had some type of enacted state pharmaceutical assistance law. Most use state funds to help pay for a portion of the cost of pharmaceuticals for eligible residents who meet age and income criteria. Some states also have established cost-sharing features including co-payments, annual enrollment fees, or monthly limits.

Other states are operating or authorizing broader discount programs aimed at assisting people lacking private insurance, or even the general consuming public. In separate actions, all 50 states have adjusted Medicaid pharmaceutical policy in the past eight years. NCSL now has more than40 reports and presentations on pharmaceuticals, most of which are online.

For more information visit NCSL’s website here.

NCSL Provides Resources on Pharmaceuticals is a post from: Wills Law Firm, PLLC

Safety’s No Accident

Robbie Wills — Fri, 15 Apr 2011 12:50:21 +0000

The first full week of April was National Public Health Week, dedicated this year to raising awareness about simple steps people can take to avoid injuries in all areas of life.

Injuries from falls, car crashes, prescription drug overdoses, domestic violence and suicide attempts account for about 12 percent of all medical spending, according to the American Public Health Association. State budgets share this financial burden through Medicaid, child welfare services, state employee health benefits, health care for the uninsured, and lost tax revenue from the injured and their caregivers.

Certain precautaions are effective in preventing injuries. For example, children can reduce their risk of brain injuries by more than 85 percent by wearing helmets while riding bikes. Properly using safety seats reduces the risk of children dying from a car crash by 71 percent.

State lawmakers have supported efforts to educate people on how to prevent injuries and avoid risky behaviors, and have passed laws requiring certain actions.

All states except New Hampshire require some type of seat belt use.
All 50 states have some type of child restraint law.
At least 30 states ban all drivers from texting.
Twenty states require all motorcyclists to wear helmets.
Twenty-one states and the District of Columbia require certain children to wear bicycle helmets.
Thirty-eight states have prescription drug monitoring programs to help physicians and pharmacists track medications for controlled substances.
At least 14 states have laws that urge or require school boards to develop curriculum on teen dating violence.
Seven states appropriate money to research, plan and develop ways to prevent falls by the elderly.
Eleven states require the state education department to provide a youth suicide prevention curriculum.

(Information for this post was gathered from State Legislatures Magazine.)

Safety’s No Accident is a post from: Wills Law Firm, PLLC

Arkansas Great Places Bill Passes the Legislature

Robbie Wills — Thu, 31 Mar 2011 01:26:57 +0000

House Bill 2002, by Rep. Kelley Linck, which creates the Arkansas Great Places program, has passed both houses of the General Assembly and is now awaiting the Governor’s signature. The bill can be read here.

The Arkansas Great Places program is based on a successful program in Missouri called the DREAM Initiative, a three-year commitment between the State of Missouri and designated communities. The Missouri program offers a comprehensive, streamlined approach to grassroots revitalization of targeted districts in small- to mid-sized communities. Notable accomplishments for DREAM communities include:

Creating historic districts and historic design guidelines
Establishing downtown tax increment finance districts
Re-branding downtown districts
Enhancing local farmers markets
Designing downtown public plazas
Expanding capacity of downtown organizations
and partnerships
Designing streetscape beautification

A new direction in economic development is driving competition in the global marketplace. Experiences, more than ever, are influencing consumer and corporate behavior and shaping communities across the country by giving them authentic identities.

Downtown Arkansas, a coalition of private and public leaders, has dedicated its resources to researching and identifying high-potential programs to create the authentic experiences necessary to put our communities on the path of becoming truly experience-driver.

Earlier this year, Downtown Arkansas commissioned a comprehensive study by Hunden Strategic Partners to gauge Arkansas’ existing assets and to examine best practices around the country. The findings reaffirmed their position and led them to draft proposed legislation aimed at aiding the communities of this great state.

Arkansas has an opportunity to better utilize its existing resources by designing a program to offer select communities access to the technical and financial assistance necessary to support meaningful progress on downtown revitalization efforts.

The Arkansas Great Places technical assistance initiative has the potential to guide the historic cores of Arkansas’ communities in a new direction of economic development. By connecting state and community resources through a unified program to develop meaningful analysis and strategic objectives, the potential for the successful implementation necessary to compete in the global marketplace.

Arkansas Great Places Bill Passes the Legislature is a post from: Wills Law Firm, PLLC

Arkansas Great Places bill introduced in Legislature

Robbie Wills — Fri, 11 Mar 2011 11:42:17 +0000

One of the first initiatives by Downtown Arkansas is the Arkansas Great Places technical assistance program. Arkansas has an opportunity to better utilize its existing resources by designing a program to offer select communities access to the technical and financial assistance necessary to support meaningful progress on downtown revitalization efforts.

Creating historic districts and historic design guidelines
Establishing downtown tax increment finance districts
Re-branding downtown districts
Enhancing local farmers markets
Designing downtown public plazas
Expanding capacity of downtown organizations
and partnerships
Designing streetscape beautification

House Bill 2002, by Rep. Kelley Linck, will create the Arkansas Great Places program. the bill can be read here. The Arkansas Great Places technical assistance initiative has the potential to guide the historic cores of Arkansas’ communities in a new direction of economic development. By connecting state and community resources through a unified program to develop meaningful analysis and strategic objectives, the potential for the successful implementation necessary to compete in the global marketplace.

Arkansas Great Places bill introduced in Legislature is a post from: Wills Law Firm, PLLC

Small Loan Update – AILA Supports HB 1846 (Small Loan Act)

Robbie Wills — Thu, 03 Mar 2011 21:31:00 +0000

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Arkansas Installment Lenders Association supports Arkansas Small Loan Act

Little Rock, AR, March 3, 2011 – The Arkansas Installment Lenders Association today announced support for House Bill 1846 and issued the following statement:

House Bill 1846, the Arkansas Small Loan Act, does not raise interest rates beyond 17%. It will tightly license and regulate small-sum lenders, provide consumer protections recommended by all the leading consumer advocacy groups and attempt to set up a viable small-sum loan industry.

By defining our industry and bringing the small-loan industry under public supervision, we can avoid having our responsible credit product unfairly disparaged by inaccurate comparisons to some of the undesirable lending practices we have opposed in other states.

Several years ago, the Department of Defense labeled our installment loan product “beneficial credit,” and allowed the product to be offered to military personnel and their dependents, while at the same time placing severe restrictions on other products in the market place.

The goal of our association is to create safe, responsible credit options for unbanked and under-banked Arkansans. Many Arkansans needing to borrow small amounts are denied credit and financial products that are generally available to others in Arkansas due to inadequate credit histories or poor credit scores. We will do our best to make the business model outlined in House Bill 1846 work.

Please visit, www.responsibleconsumerloans.org, for the truth about installment lending across the country and to listen to credit experts and actual customers of the need for this responsible credit product that has been heavily regulated for over 100 years.

Contact:

Robbie Wills
Executive Director, Arkansas Installment Lenders Association
(501) 548-4286
arklenders@gmail.com
www.responsibleconsumerloans.org

Small Loan Update – AILA Supports HB 1846 (Small Loan Act) is a post from: Wills Law Firm, PLLC

UPDATE – Arkansas Installment Lenders Reaffirm Support for SB 568

Robbie Wills — Sat, 26 Feb 2011 17:50:20 +0000

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Arkansas Installment Lenders Association Reaffirms Support of Small Loan Bill

Little Rock, Arkansas, February 26, 2011 – The Arkansas Installment Lenders Association today reaffirmed support for Senate Bill 568 and issued the following statement:

The installment loan industry is a respected corporate citizen in states that have small-loan laws. We object to the unfair comparison of our safe and responsible credit product to “loan sharking” and other forms of unscrupulous predatory lending we have worked against for years. We also object to the erroneous conclusion that Senate Bill 568 would “open the door” to the return of those undesirable lending practices.

If the Arkansas Legislature had the ability they now have twelve years ago, we would’ve never had a predatory lending problem. We would have what we are now suggesting: a safe and responsible credit option that allows higher-risk borrowers to access credit and improve their credit scores. It’s a much better deal for the unbanked consumer with credit problems: a product with strict borrowing guidelines, budgeting and reporting to the major credit bureaus.

We hope to continue this meaningful discussion about how to meet the credit needs of the unbanked in our state, a need that left us vulnerable to predatory lenders to begin with.

AILA will continue to communicate with legislators about how Senate Bill 568 will give them the ability to pass a Small Loan Act that will tightly regulate small-sum lending, provide consumer protections recommended by all the leading consumer advocacy groups and allow a fair, sustainable rate that will permit a viable small-sum loan industry.

Contact:

Robbie Wills
Executive Director, Arkansas Installment Lenders Association
(501) 548-4286
arklenders@gmail.com
www.responsibleconsumerloans.org

UPDATE – Arkansas Installment Lenders Reaffirm Support for SB 568 is a post from: Wills Law Firm, PLLC