Marc Johannsen recently was recognized by the Northern Star Council of the Boy Scouts of America for his volunteer work when he was awarded the Silver Beaver Award. This nomination-only award is the highest award a council can bestow upon a volunteer and recognizes...
Cameron Kelly recently completed his LL.M. Degree in Estate Planning, graduating with honors from the John Marshall Law School. His coursework focused on the taxation of estates, protecting estate assets, and business succession planning. Cameron’s degree will allow...
Wisconsin families are now able to sign up for a one-time $100-per-child tax rebate, set to correspond with a back-to-school sales tax holiday. Legislation signed by Governor Walker in April created a tax rebate for Wisconsin sales and use tax paid on purchases made...
The National Childhood Vaccine Injury Compensation Act of 1986 (“Vaccine Act”), 42 U.S.C.A. § 300aa-11 et seq., established a streamlined, no-fault compensation method for injured vaccine recipients to recover compensation. Under the Vaccine Act, a no-fault program...
In Snider v. Dickinson Elks Building, LLC, 907 N.W.2d 397 (ND 2018), the North Dakota Supreme Court clarified the consequences contractors engaged in the business of construction, repair, alteration or demolition can face if they don’t obtain a license before...
Electronic Logging Devices (“ELD”) are now required for drivers of many commercial motor vehicles (“CMV”) in the United States. ELDs are the electronic equivalent of a paper log used to record a driver’s working and driving time. The new mandate will result in...
Lommen Abdo was voted as one of the finalists in the "2018 Best Law Firms of the St. Croix Valley"! Thanks for your vote. What was it about the Lommen Abdo Law Firm you really like? Our business practice? Our family law practice? Our trial and appellate lawyers? Our...
When people think about estate planning, the estate tax is one of the first things that comes to mind. The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act signed into law by President Trump on December 22, 2017 brought significant changes to the transfer of wealth, including increasing the...
Late last year, Congress and the President enacted sweeping new tax legislation that fundamentally affects the family both during marriage and following divorce. The Tax Cuts & Jobs Act (“TCJA”) made four key changes of which you should be immediately aware....
A deep look into the new Tax Act reveals a significant change in existing law regarding the deductibility of confidential sexual harassment settlement payments and attorney’s fees. Previously, settlement payments (for defendants) and the attorney’s fees necessary to...
I recently worked with a client after his spouse passed away. Their revocable living trust had been drafted in 2000 by a competent attorney. At that time, the federal estate tax exemption was $675,000. The estate tax exemption is the amount of money that a person...
The Minnesota Rules of Professional Conduct now require a lawyer to maintain technological literacy in legal practice. Such technological literacy is critical because lawyers are attractive, and increasingly frequent, targets of cyber criminals. To develop...
On January 1, 2018, commercial motor vehicle drivers and those performing safety sensitive functions for cargo and passenger carriers (collectively “drivers”) regulated by the United States Department of Transportation (DOT) will now be screened for four additional...
For businesses involved in the interstate transportation of goods by truck, December 2017 brings an important change – into the electronic age – as to how drivers must keep track of their working hours. For many decades the federal government limited the number hours...
Estate planning may not be at the top of most people's minds during the holidays. But it is important to check things twice before moving on to 2018 New Year's resolutions. For many of us, this includes updating our estate plans, figuring out what's happening with...
From comprehensive tax reform making its way through congress, to the changes to the Minnesota estate tax, it has been an eventful year for estate planning. While tax changes are not the most exciting topic for many of our clients, it is a topic that continues to be...
Most of our clients have at least a portion of their savings in IRAs. Those that do not often have savings in a 401k, which will likely be converted to an IRA upon retirement. Both 401k and IRA plans allow a person to put money away tax free. However, when money is...
There have been significant well publicized estate planning legislative updates in 2017, including the increase in the Minnesota estate tax exemption amount and the proposed repeal of the federal exemption. Two lesser-known changes impact one of Minnesota’s most...
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