Beyond environmental mindfulness, a conservation easement can provide considerable tax and estate planning benefits. Because conservation easements cannot typically be undone, they lower a property’s value, thus lowering the property owner’s overall taxable estate. The property owner may also be able to deduct the value of the conservation easement on their personal tax return.

A conservation easement is a type of voluntary agreement made between a property owner and either a qualifying nonprofit or a government agency. When a property owner decides to establish a conservation easement, they agree to permanently limit the types of development that can occur on that property. For example, a conservation easement on a property with a forest teeming with natural resources may mandate that the forest never be torn down or developed. A conservation easement becomes part of the property’s deed.

In some cases, a person will be both a ward’s guardian and a conservator, but they are two separate legal distinctions with different responsibilities. A guardian looks after a ward’s well-being, while a conservator oversees financial affairs.

Minors need a legal guardian if their parents are deceased or unable to sufficiently provide for them. An adult may need a guardian or conservator if they become unable to care for themselves or manage their financial affairs due to age, illness, injury, or substance abuse.

Having a will is better than having no estate plan at all, but you may want to consider implementing additional estate planning tools. A trust can help you skip the majority of probate and ensure your loved ones will quickly receive their inheritances. You should also prepare for incapacity by executing a power of attorney document and an advance directive.

If you die without an estate plan, you will have no influence over who will become the guardian of your minor children, who will receive your property, and who will manage your estate’s probate. Estate assets are generally divided amongst the closest surviving relatives. Any specific preferences you may have had will be ignored, even if you expressed them to a loved one.

Bankruptcy can only eliminate unsecured debts in most cases. Examples of unsecured debt include credit card debt, medical debt, unpaid utility bills, and personal loans. Bankruptcy cannot eliminate secured debts, such as missed mortgage or vehicle loan payments. Bankruptcy also cannot touch student loan debt (except in various specific circumstances of extreme hardship) or tax debt.

Filing for bankruptcy will damage your credit in the short term, but doing nothing about your debt will cause even greater harm over time. Your bankruptcy will not permanently remain on your credit report, and there are steps you can take to induce credit recovery immediately after your case is over. We can walk you through these credit recovery options.

Subchapter V is a type of Chapter 11 bankruptcy available exclusively to businesses with less than $3,024,725 (as of April 2022, excluding debts owed to company insiders). Subchapter V can be a less expensive and time-consuming alternative to a traditional Chapter 11 bankruptcy, but this approach comes with more court oversight. We can determine whether your company qualifies for Subchapter V and walk you through how the process works.

Potentially, yes. Chapter 13 bankruptcy is generally the ideal choice if you are in danger of losing your home to foreclosure. If you file before a sale takes place, the automatic stay will stop the foreclosure process, which typically cannot continue until your case is over. Your Chapter 13 plan payments will go toward secured debts, including missed mortgage payments, before they touch unsecured debts. By the end of the plan, you will have caught up on your mortgage and freed up additional financial resources by wiping out unsecured debts.

Absolutely not. Bankruptcy is meant to protect debtors, not punish them. Though Chapter 7 bankruptcy does include a liquidation process, filers can exempt (and therefore keep) many types of essential property. In a Chapter 13 bankruptcy, there is no liquidation, and you will make monthly payments as part of a reorganization plan.

The goal of a Chapter 11 bankruptcy is to set up a business for future success by restructuring its obligations. This may involve downsizing or liquidating certain assets, but the process is intended to keep the business open and functioning.