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Show flu- Salt lakf Tribum-- . Thurston. Jjnuarv C3 Hi, 1986 Slaying Ahead: Nows Time for Joint Ownership in Marriages UHK Married couples ire u lot luuiluer about jointly owned pmpe(t t luii they used lu be Many " them Hat out dun t like it l If your spouse dies owing mon-ethe creditors cannot normally put a lien againsl joint property that has passed to you (unless you also signed the debtsi power is strungei it sum name is on every thing Yuli might take this point as an at guineiil loi separately held propei is you hold real estate in another state, joint ow nership saves you from going through probate there Fil'd of Tut) 2 ot women, separate properly has a symbol ol financial mile- become 3 It (4 The marriage becomes a true economic partnership, share and share alike Jam Bn ant thiinn Joint ownership protects the interests of both partners in ease of divorce. In most states, marital property' can now be divided equally (or unequally, as the courts decide) regardless ol who holds formal title But your bargaining (5i pendence. For men. it suggests free-doIrorn long-terobligations, it 'he marriage breaks up Ironically, just when joint property has beeume emotionally suspect, it is starting to make better sense under the law I used to write columns about the ways in w hich joint ownership cost married couples time, money and flexibility in decision making Hut many of those old constraints no longer exist For example, it used to be that jointly owned bank accuunts or boxes were frozen when one spouse died; money was often tied up lor quite a while. But estate planners tell me that rarely happens any more Banks are giving surviving spouses the access they need to joint accounts, to pay their bills and keep up the household Fach ol you might want to have a I But remember You would have to hold at) percent ol the marital propei ty in your own name, to equal the interest you'd get from joint property In the nine eommunity-propertstates, you get many of the advan tages of joint property automatically In fact, you'll need legal help if yuu decide that yuu want to hold some property separately rather than can think ol only lour situations piopcrly might cause problems loi married couples di Yuui spouse is vulnerable to lourt judgments Ills creditors could tile ,i lieu against the joint property, and even though your share normally can I be seized, it's complicated to get your money out Depending on stale law. the creditor might force the sale ol a jointly owned house, in order to get at the spouse's hall In this case, the spouse would do better to hold property in his or her separate name Even then, warns New York attorney Edward Fogel. you're coui ting a lawsuit il you transler property in urder to evade paying a judgment when joint Yuu have a net worth above above $6Utl.t)UU in 1987) This makes you liable lor tederal estate taxes, which can be avoided it each spouse holds some property separate 2 $:00.U0U i trust A U sv slates less1 then own inhere lance taxes on sums well below $1)11.000 When writing sour will, ask your lawyer whether separate own eishqi would save any taxes in sum Iv and leases own it in state l3i You have children trum a pi mi marriage. It you put everything into joint names with your new spouse and then die, the spouse mlieiits everthmg - and he oi she may may not provide tor your children To gnaiantee their inheritance keep your properly separate and leave it to them in your w ill II a house is your duel asset, joint ownership may be more conveno-- In this case, consider providing loi your children by naming them bcndi claries ol yuui lile insurance poln v. Fogd says 4 Nuu tear that your niuiriuge wont last A disgruntled spouse can lean out a joint bank account, a joint sale deposit box and. often, a joint brokerage accuunt. Separate ussner ship protects your personal property .Jointly held real estate, buss ever, cannot be sold out from under yuu a good ieasun to own the fuimlv house in both r nines ' ,tjhinytQn A safe-depos- modest amount of money in separate names, just in case difficulties arise But frozen bank accounts are no longer good arguments lor keeping property separate. Another example Many spouses used to face a tax on joint property when the other spouse died That's no longer true. In fact, nowadays the case lor jointly owned assets in marriage seems to me to be very strong, for the following five reasons; (1) You get the other half of the joint property automatically, when your spouse, dies. There is no need to go through probate, which will certainly save your survivor some Sales on Rise For Beehive International I Beehive International's sales have been increasing consistently since . they bottomed out in mid-iy()5- The Salt Lake computer terminal manufacturer, which filed for Chapter bankruptcy in October 1984. made that assessment in releasing its sales and earnings for its fiscal year ending Sept. 30. Beehive's net sales totalled $13.7 million compared to $28.6 million the year before. The company attributed that 52 percent decline to the effects of it filing for Chapter 11 protection. But Beehive's net loss dropped to $8.1 million, or $1 8 per share, in 1985 from $14 4 million, or $4.62 per share, City-base- d 1 in 1984. Beehive's operating expenses dropped to $9.4 million in 1985 from million $13.8 in 1984. Beehive's declined employment from more than 450 when its financial problems began to about 250 at the end of 1985. During the year, Beehive made several key additions to its management team. They include Robert E. Sherlin, vice president of operations; Patricia A. Palmer, vice president of sales and marketing, and Timothy W. May, vice president of product marketing. Board members who Beehive has attracted include Chairman Thomas A. Howard, who has significant high-tecfinancing experience and previously held financial and operations positions with CXI, Genstar Container Corp. and Itel. The weighted average number of Beehive common shares outstanding increased from 3.1 million in 1984 to 6.8 million in 1985. Beehive attributed the increase to the issuance of about 27 million shares in August 1985 "coincident with the confirmation of the (bankruptcy! plan of reorganization." h The U.S. Bankruptcy Court entered an order confirming Beehive's plan of reorganization on Aug. 1. The order was effective Aug. 13. 25 OFF ON GOLD & SILVER. t preciGJs rriehls prices Itas than in r84 Call Bannister Brighton and find out why now may be the time to take advantage ol those exciting pneos Tod are s The birth of a baby can be a wonderful experience. d But not for the employer trapped in the spiral of rising health benefits costs. If youre one of those employers, you should know about Holy Cross Health Care. As you can see from the actual case history shown, Holy Cross Health Care can make a considerable cost difference. With us, the bill for a two-damaternity stay in the hospital came to $925. That included everything. Under another health benefits program, the costs for this patients services would have been $1,484.09. Holy Cross Health Care saved the employer over $500. Savings like this are typical with Holy Cross Health Care. For all kinds of medical and surgical Without us self-insure- . y the same time, we do not require that your employees use our physicians only The choice At is entirelv theirs. Free booklet details how we cut costs in 10 actual cases. procedures. The reason is simple. Holy Cross Health Care is a cooperative of hospitals, physicians and employers working together to hold down costs while providing the highest quality care. With this system, were able to offer your employees the freedom to choose from more than 2C0 physicians throughout the Salt Lake area. send you a free booklet which oilers 1C Holy Cross Health Care case histories covering a wide range of medical problems. Youll see for yourself how we for companies like yours. What we did for them, we In California 800-423-314- 1 Outside California 800-523-796- 6 Bannister Brighton, Ltd. 14 4 r I p;. III ,. 11.11 n4- t a ViifiM Holy Cross Health Care For the Self-Insure- d Lmployer 1045 Fast First South, Salt Fake Citv Utah 8410.'! 000 880-440- 0 can do for vou. Of OOP |
