Paraklete Financial

Q:  Susan and Tom, I have just moved to Georgia from North Carolina.  My current will is only a year old.  Do I need to get a new will?  I just paid for this one. Great question! First, we are not attorneys and we do not practice law.  Now that we have “disclaimed” ourselves, here [...]

by Thomas N. Tillery Q.  Tom, sorry if this is a little long . . . I have a new client that has a simple tax return.  She usually prepares the return the herself; however, this year she has a 1099-R from Podunk Mutual Life Insurance Company: Gross distribution $190K taxable $147K as a “total” [...]

by Thomas N. Tillery Q.  My attorney says that I am subject to ancillary probate.  What is it? Ancillary probate is a probate proceeding conducted in a different state from the one in which deceased person resided in at the time of death. Typically ancillary probate involves real property.  Your att

By Thomas N. Tillery Q:  My grandmother told me that because of her age, 83, she no longer has to file a federal income tax return.  Is this true? The long and the short of it is you must file a tax return if your income is above a certain level. The income amount varies [...]

By Thomas N. Tillery Q.  Both my CPA and tax attorney have recommended a Section §1244 election.  What is this election and how does it benefit me? §1244 of the Internal Revenue Code is the small business stock provision.  It was enacted to allow shareholders of domestic small business corporations

By Thomas N. Tillery Q.   I have a client who will receive a stream of income beginning at age 61.  The client is 41 years old.  The future benefit is $961.00 per month and will be adjusted annually for inflation.  The client has asked me to assume this income will last to age 100.  Is [...]

By Thomas N. Tillery Susan / Tom,   Can either of you weigh in on the quality of an investment my brother is recommending?  He is involved with an investment firm called Dewey Cheatham & Howe Resources.  My mom, age 90, is looking for something better than CDs and this looked interesting to him.  Th

The IRS recently issued inflation-adjusted numbers for tax year 2012.  The increases were greater than in the previous two years, when inflation was lower. The value of each personal and dependent exemption will be $3,800, up $100 from 2011.  The new standard deduction is $11,900 for married couples

By Susan Tillery This country’s debt crisis, as well as the embarrassing behavior exhibited by Congress during the last few weeks, is in large part, due to our government operating with mindsets, laws and traditions that are completely outdated. The U.S. Government is not addressing the needs of our