The Avenidas Center in Palo Alto, California recently invited attorneys Michael Gilfix and Mark R. Gilfix to help local families better understand how to protect their assets and financial legacies for their heirs. These highly experienced estate-planning and tax attorneys spoke to two packed houses about estate-planning tools and how recent tax reforms are likely to impact them.
In the first talk, Michael and Mark Gilfix focused on long-term care and asset protection and how Palo Alto families can ensure a legacy for their heirs. They explained ways to protect financial and other assets from lawsuits, estate taxes and divorce proceedings to ensure that they are there for their children. They explained new planning approaches, including simplifying revocable trusts to save on taxes, and talked about the pros and cons of reverse mortgages and how they affect retirees.
Ensuring quality long-term care is another important element of long-term estate planning that Michael and Mark Gilfix discussed. The nation has a growing retirement-age population that is increasing the demand for long-term care. Sophisticated Medi-Cal planning can help local qualifying families to protect their homes and assets, while saving potentially hundreds of thousands of dollars skilled nursing care costs.
In the second talk, they spoke about Pres. Donald Trump’s tax reform and its likely impacts on family tax and estate planning. The tax reforms impact irrevocable and revocable trusts, estate taxes and income taxes. Homeowners in particular must be aware of a new set of laws governing real estate transactions and how much of their local property taxes they can deduct from federal tax liabilities.
The tax laws also affect wealthy families in the Palo Alto area, which has some of the nation’s highest property values. Some local families are considering moves to states with lower income taxes to escape the impact of the new federal tax laws. Michael and Mark Gilfix discussed the possible pros and cons of such a decision and how it impacts the ability to protect family assets.
Gilfix and La Poll Associates thanks the Avenidas Center in Palo Alto for inviting Michael Gilfix and Mark Gilfix to give these two presentations. Both of these talks were “sold out,” with large audiences. Michael and Mark were thrilled for the opportunity to reach the Palo Alto community.