Married couples often don’t give much thought to the characterization of their property as community or separate. In general, community property is all real or personal property acquired by a married person during the marriage. Separate property is all property owned by the person before the marriage, all property acquired by the person after marriage by gift, bequest or devise, and the rents and profits from the person’s separate property.
More people than ever are becoming elderly with diminishing capacity, an absence of close family members nearby to care for them, and the potential for disfavoring heirs in asset distribution.
Ryan Szczepanik & John Hartog presented at The Tax & Planning Forum.