by michelle | Aug 9, 2013 | Estate Planning
AGREEMENT OF SALE By Ethan R. Okura We all know that we had a recent real estate boom and bust cycle. From the early 2000s until around 2007 or 2008 the real estate market was going gangbusters. Prices were rising, and a lot of transactions were taking...
by michelle | Jul 12, 2013 | Estate Planning, Trusts and Wills
HOW TO TITLE REAL ESTATE: LLC, Revocable Trust, Personal Name? By Ethan R. Okura For many people—especially in Hawaii—real estate is the most valuable investment they own and the largest part of their estate. There is so much advice and mis-information floating...
by michelle | Jun 7, 2013 | Estate Planning, Estate Taxes and Gift Taxes, Trusts and Wills
HOW DOES INCOME TAX WORK WITH MY TRUST? By Ethan R. Okura Last month after writing my article on Medicaid planning techniques, we received a message from a concerned client who is worried about higher income tax rates, the new 3.8% Medicare (sometimes called...
by Ethan Okura | May 16, 2013 | Medicaid and Nursing Home Costs
As you are probably well aware, my father, Sanford K. Okura, and I have both written extensively on qualifying for Medicaid to pay for long term care costs while protecting your assets from nursing home costs. Our law practice focuses on this problem as a key...
by michelle | Apr 19, 2013 | Asset Protection
ASSET PROTECTION – Part 2 By Ethan R. Okura Last month, we started talking about asset protection. We discussed what it is, why it’s necessary to protect ourselves in our country, and how having multiple layers of defense is the best approach. ...
by Ethan Okura | Mar 7, 2013 | Asset Protection, Estate Planning
ASSET PROTECTION – Part 1 By Ethan R. Okura Today I want to talk about Asset Protection. What is Asset Protection? Asset Protection is creating and implementing a plan to protect your...
by Ethan Okura | Feb 8, 2013 | Estate Planning, Estate Taxes and Gift Taxes
2013 ESTATE PLANNING UPDATE By Ethan R. Okura Here is a 2013 update on important numbers used in Estate Planning and Medicaid Planning in Hawaii. How much money and property can a person have at death without paying estate taxes? As I mentioned in last...
by Ethan Okura | Jan 6, 2013 | Estate Taxes and Gift Taxes
NEW LAW: SAVED FROM THE FISCAL CLIFF? By Ethan R. Okura As you may know, President Obama cut short his vacation in Hawaii to return to Washington D.C. and deal with the problem of the fiscal cliff. For those of you who weren’t aware, the fiscal cliff refers...
by Ethan Okura | Dec 17, 2012 | Asset Protection, Estate Planning
NEW LAW: TENANTS BY THE ENTIRETY PROTECTION AVAILABLE IN TRUST By Ethan R. Okura Hawaii has a new law which allows married couples or reciprocal beneficiaries who hold real property as tenants by the entirety to transfer their real estate to revocable trusts...
by michelle | Sep 11, 2012 | Asset Protection, Trusts and Wills
ANSWER: Ethan R. Okura, Attorney Specializing in Estate Planning (Trusts, Wills, Medicaid Planning & Probate). No, a revocable living trust will not protect your assets from lawsuits. You can cancel your revocable trust...
