A motion filed (1) in the Los Angeles Superior Court (Docket Number: BD514309) on April 22, 2013 by Jamie McCourt, ex-wife of Frank McCourt, the former owner of the Los Angeles Dodgers claims Mr. McCourt undervalued the estimate of his assets by $ 1.7 billion, creating what would be the largest divorce by any professional team-owner in the United States (2); however, Estate Street Partners, creators of the UltraTrust irrevocable trust, recently reviewed their miry situation and released their assessment and advice.

Estate Street Partners believes that had the McCourts thought ahead and implemented a well-drafted irrevocable trust, then the assets would be placed out of their hands for the benefit of their four children.

Frank McCourt and Jamie McCourt were divorced in October of 2010. The McCourts were married for over 25 years and have four children together: Drew, Travis, Casey, and Gavin (5).

During the divorce negotiations they agreed to split the marital assets down the middle (3). Mr. McCourt valued his assets at $ 300 million and Jamie kept $ 131 million (2). Two months after the divorce was completed the Dodgers franchise was sold for an astonishing $ 2.1 billion.

A motions hearing was scheduled for April 15th, 2013, which was initiated by Jamie because she believes her husband intentionally misrepresented the value of the L.A. Dodgers during the divorce negotiations (2).

There are better ways to protect assets in a divorce than misrepresenting assets though. Nobody wants to be drawn back into court, states Mr. Beatrice.

Assets within a properly drafted, executed, and funded irrevocable trust are not marital assets and wont be subject to an equitable distribution in the event of a divorce. There are decades of cases to support this including: [Cooley v. Cooley, 32 Conn.App. 152, (1993).], [Moore v. Moore, 111 S.W.3d 530 (2003).], [McGinn v. McGinn, 273 Ga. 292, 540 S.E.2d 604 (2001)], [Findlen v. Findlen, 695 A.2d 1216 (Me. 1997)], [Mikhail v. Mikhail, 124 Ohio Misc. 2d 5, 791 N.E.2d 468 (C.P. 2003)], and [In re Marriage of Jones, 159 Or. App. 377, 981 P.2d 338 (1999)] are a few examples of case law supporting this fact.

A person prior to marriage, or even in some cases, during a marriage, can take personal assets out of their name and place them into an irrevocable trust. There, they are safe and can grow estate tax and probate free, explains Mr. Beatrice.

If one of the McCourts would have put the baseball team in an irrevocable trust, it would not have been a marital asset. Furthermore, any increase in value would not have triggered additional gift or estate tax.

The McCourts would have been gift taxed once and even if the value grew, say to $ 2.1 billion, the team could be passed to the children estate tax and probate free.

In a case where an asset is owned by both parties, it can still be put in a trust. Most married couples dont foresee divorce, but they certainly dont want to get into a long divorce where the only winners are the lawyers, opines Mr. Beatrice.

Usually both parties want to support their children, so getting significant assets out of the marriage into a safe trust for the benefit of those children is widely accepted. Its basic estate planning.

As it stands, however, Mr. Beatrice believes that both Frank and Jamie are spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on lawyers, fighting a battle that they didnt have to.

It would be hard to spend all of that money in a lifetime, but with this battle, they are only taking away from their children and grandchildren, figures Mr. Beatrice. Both parties should have done it differently from the beginning.

Estate Street Partners believes, neither Frank nor Jamie will probably ever spend all the money they have, and presumes, both parties will be leaving their assets to their mutual children.

According to Estate Street Partners, all of this money they are fighting about will probably be joined back together in the estates of the children (minus the estate taxes if they dont do some estate planning), which follows that this litigation, seemingly about billions of dollars, may not matter much in the long run.

Estate Street Partners further investigated the possibility of a prenuptial agreement between Frank and Jamie and the consequences thereof and sheds this light on the matter.

Frank and Jamie did not have a prenuptial agreement, although they did separate their assets for asset protection purposes when they moved to California from Boston according to Bloomberg (4).

You would think that people with these kinds of assets would have done something, but everyone thinks that marriage is forever. I wish it was, but at least half of the time it isnt, explains Rocco Beatrice Managing Director of Estate Street Partners.

Prenuptial agreements are subject to attack in the court system. In this case, if Jamie was to get a percentage of marital assets, the prenuptial wouldnt have helped, Frank still could have devalued his baseball team.

Even if the prenup specified an amount, courts have been known to throw out prenuptial agreements on a variety of reasons [see: In re Marriage of Little, F050969, (2008)] including a substantial change in circumstances [see: McHugh v. McHugh, 181 Conn. 482, 436 A.2d 8 (1980)].

Over 25 years of marriage and the acquisition of a $ 2.1 billion baseball team would probably count as a change in circumstances in the courts, states Mr. Beatrice.

There is another option, though, that is better than a prenuptial agreement and certainly better than nothing, elucidates Mr. Beatrice. It can save families estate and gift taxes as well as probate costs too.

I would advise all my clients to seriously look into an well-written irrevocable trust like the UltraTrust that weve constructed to avoid these lengthy court battles.

To learn how to protect assets save on estate taxes and probate costs visit UltraTrust.com, the irrevocable trust experts. Visit MyUltraTrust.com to set up a DIY irrevocable trust plan.

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About Estate Street Partners (UltraTrust.com):

Assets can be protected from frivolous lawsuits while eliminating your estate taxes and probate, and also ensuring superior Medicaid asset protection for both parents and children with their Premium UltraTrust

In an April 29 report, the Guardian newspaper has revealed that London is becoming one of the most sought-after real estate markets in the world, and continues to defy the trend in European cities, with house prices continuing to rise over the past five years. In fact, the average price of a new build in London has risen a whopping 29% in those five years, according to a recent report from Halifax. Property mastermind Rick Otton has revealed that this boom may not be good news for people looking to get into the market using traditional investment approaches.

Many people look at the average UK figures and think that the market as a whole is rising. This is not the case. The fact is that the London housing market should be seen as separate from the rest of the country, where housing values are actually falling. The rising London market is disguising the falls elsewhere, said Mr Otton.

London Prices Can Be Distracting

The Guardian reports that a range of factors, including a weaker Pound, increased interest from overseas property investors, and short supply of housing stock have driven the London market up in contrast to the falling prices in the majority of UK regions. In the north, new build prices have actually fallen 10% in the past five years.

People outside of London need to exercise caution in developing their property investment strategies. This includes being clear that rising prices in London dont mean they should overcommit to bank loans to buy a regional property, and be left high and dry should the value falls, said Mr Otton.

Likewise, a rising London market means that people trying to get into that market are going to need to embrace more innovative property investment approaches if they are to be on the track to long term wealth.

Strong growth in the London market actually means it will be even harder for those people trying to meet bank requirements to take out a home loan. Anyone with not enough saved for a deposit, a poor credit record or unstable employment such as the the self-employed and freelancers is going to be up against increased opposition.

We need to move away from thinking that the banks way is the only way to enable us to make money in property, Otton added.

Mr Ottons property investment strategies show investors how to get into the property market without a bank mortgage, existing property equity, stamp duty or a deposit.

To provide an insight into his techniques, Mr Otton is offering no-charge access to a Power Property Profits Pack as a download via his website http://www.RickOtton.co.uk

About Rick Otton

Rick Otton has spent decades making money by snapping up inexpensive real estate and putting it to work building wealth, and teaching others to do the same.

He is the founder and CEO of We Buy Houses, which operates in the US, UK, Australia and New Zealand, and through this business he puts his strategies to work every day.

Mr Otton received his start in alternative real estate investment in 1991 in the US, and within a year acquired 76 properties. In subsequent years, he made a fortune using his low-risk, high-reward strategies to inexpensively acquire real estate. He continues to do so.

As well Mr Otton travels between his home in Australia, and the UK, sharing his wisdom and teaching others how to buy and sell real estate, free from the constraints imposed by traditional lenders.

In 2013 Rick is celebrating the 10 year anniversary of introducing his property options strategies to real estate investors in the United Kingdom the first person to reveal these ground-breaking strategies. In 2008 he created the first of his Houses for a Pound strategies, upon which he grows as markets and laws evolve.

Mr Otton has been featured in a variety of television programs and magazines and in 2013 he published How To Buy A House For A Dollar for the Australian market. This book has been named in the list of the Top 10 Most Popular Finance Titles for 2013, as voted by Money Magazine and Dymocks Book stores. A UK version is on the drawing board.

More information: http://www.RickOtton.co.uk or phone, in the UK, 0207 000 1027.

Quality investment is quite independent and different from other types of investment strategies such as growth investing and value investing. In growth investing, investors choose stocks of those companies that show the signs of having an above-average growth. These stocks are characterized by high price-to-earning (P/E) or price-to-book ratios. However, only these high growth factors will not attract a quality investor. A stock’s high earnings growth should also be characterized by good fundamentals of the company invested in for its price to be justified by a quality investor.

In value investing, an investor picks a stock that is believed to be trading at less than its intrinsic value or is undervalued. The stocks ideal for value investing are characterized by low P/E ratio, low price-to-sales ratio, low price to cash flow, low price-to-book ratio, and high dividend yield. In contrast, a quality investor will never buy a company’s stock just because it is undervalued. Such an investor looks for stocks that are of an excellent company and is also attractively valued.

Benjamin Graham, who is also known as the “father” of value investing, recognized the value of quality stocks.

He observed that losses resulting from stock market trading were not more due to buying quality at an excessively high price, but more from buying low-quality stocks at a price that seems good value. Hence, the importance of quality investment was recognized. Quality Investing gained prominence after the stock market “bubble burst” of 2001 characterized by bankruptcy, balance sheet manipulation, and other financial frauds. This cautioned the investors to go for targeted selection of quality stocks.

There are several criteria that can help an investor to select quality stocks:

Financial condition of a company:

Financial condition can be gauged by examining a company’s balance sheet, earnings, cash flow, free cash flow, debt, income stream, etc. The more income a company can generate with its core business, the better is its quality. Also, when reviewed in comparison with other peers in the same sector, the quality of the stocks can be well judged.

Top management:

A company is believed to be as good as the quality of the people who run the company. Low turnover rates, stability in the management system, and more can speak volumes about the quality of the stocks of a particular company.

Price potential of the stock:

In quality investing, quality and attractive valuation are linked. Quality helps to prevent share price losses in bearish market conditions and attractive valuation ensures that the stocks outperform the market. Factors such as discounted cash flow, price/earning ratio, and price/book ratio in caparison to the market averages gives the investor a measure of the stock’s quality.

Business model:

A company’s business model is also a good indicator of the quality of its stocks. Factors such as competitive advantage, diversification, and business trends give an estimate of the business model’s earnings potential.

Market environment:

The potential size of the market and the company’s position within it gives a correct evaluation of the quality of a stock.

MarketResearch.com announces publication of Healthcare IT, Patient Monitoring & Telemedicine, a Whitepaper that takes a dive deep inside the dynamic Healthcare IT market.

In Healthcare IT, Patient Monitoring & Telemedicine, author Melissa Elder, a leading healthcare industry analyst, describes the latest changes in policy, practices, and consumer awareness that are revolutionizing the medical care field, creating enormous investment growth in the healthcare market.

Key points covered in Healthcare IT, Patient Monitoring & Telemedicine include:

-How advanced patient monitoring systems and telemedicine leverage technology to streamline access to patients, shrinking the length of hospital stays, and lowering costs for the chronically-ill.

-How recent reform legislation passed by the U.S. Congress will increase government spending on healthcare by 20 percent of GDP by 2012, with funding for IT initiatives representing a big portion.

-The many ways that medical care providers around the world are adapting to changes in healthcare IT, affecting social and economic conditions worldwide.

-A look at the factors that have pushed the value of the global market for remote patient monitoring to $ 22 billion.

-An exploration of how healthcare IT will undergo additional growth nationwide in the coming years, as states and the Federal government allocate more than $ 19 billion toward upgrades and implementation.

In all, Healthcare IT, Patient Monitoring & Telemedicine provides a thorough, timely look at the healthcare technology industry from the investment, policy, and consumer aspects of the marketplace. The whitepaper is ideal for those in the healthcare field who are contemplating the integration of health technology solutions across global medical fields.

Click to download Healthcare IT, Patient Monitoring & Telemedicine.

About MarketResearch.com

MarketResearch.com is the leading provider of global market intelligence products and services. With research reports from more than 720 top consulting and advisory firms, MarketResearch.com offers instant online access to the worlds most extensive database of expert insights on global industries, companies, products, and trends.

The Real Estate Marketing Insider announced the winner of its Tech Breakthrough of the Week award, a title given to innovative and groundbreaking technology that impacts the real estate market. This weeks recipient is Floored, a New York tech firm that uses multi-camera and sensor software to generate customizable 3D models of real estate properties. TechCrunch recently profiled the startup and its signature product.

Floored recently debuted its system and its 3D models at Disrupt NY 2013, a tech convention in New York City. Their floor models are generated using Matterport, a 3D capturing device that can take 3D photographs of interior spaces. Floored has customized the device to create a new hardware/software interface that they use to generate 3D models of properties. These models are exquisitely detailed, allowing for in-depth exploration by the user. The crowning glory of Flooreds models is their customizability. Once captured, any room in a Floored model can be customized with different color, flooring, or furniture. As Romain Dillet of TechCrunch reported, you can make changes to a space and see how it would look like. For example, Floored turned an empty retail space into a coffee shop. In addition to seeing a place in its current condition, you can see it in a new condition. Once ordered, these floor plans can be available in as little as 48 hours.

Flooreds new customizable 3D floor plans represent one of the most innovative and game-changing real estate marketing tools to hit the market this year. Whether commercial or residential, the product offers the client a virtual tour of a property in which they can customize the space to their vision. Furthermore, this tool could be invaluable for realtors. Clients who can supplement the on-site viewing of a space for sale with a customizable virtual tour will get a more complete picture of a propertys potential. This can only result in more passionate clients, higher bids, and better experiences with buying and selling property. REMI believes that this Tech Breakthrough of the Week could change the way agents do business, and looks forward to watching the startup perfect and expand its product.

The Real Estate Marketing Insider named Floored, a New York-based tech startup, as the recipient of its Tech Breakthrough of the Week award. The Insider recognized Flooreds groundbreaking product that creates customizable 3D floor plans of properties for clients and realtors.

About the Real Estate Marketing Insider:

The Real Estate Marketing Insider is an online journal covering all aspects of the real estate market. REMI is a valuable resource for realtors, homebuyers, and real estate investors.

The beauty about passing through the wealth dimension is that once it’s understood what true wealth is and the wealth process, then the more wisdom we have at our disposal to manage and create wealth freedom. Ultimately wealth is an expression of wellbeing and meaning for greater awareness of its improvement in not only the material world but also the emotional, mental and spiritual dimensions of life.

Wealth Management:

Wealth management is an aspect of wealth meaning and development that serves to direct and organize wealth into a proper structure for its improvement. Three useful qualities of wealth management are:
 a) Self-awareness about wealth. This has to do with identification with one’s self-image and views on wealth and their conditioning patterns and also self-reliance in terms of benefits in relation to self-worth and creation of strong personal beliefs about wealth.

b) The ideal or ideas on wealth. Good ideas and an ideal picture of wealth start off the right kind of mindset for wealth to take shape and give form to its manifestation. Thoughts about wealth creation, goals and steps on wealth improvement all help to give authenticity and soundness to a wealth idea. An ideal and ideas of wealth give purpose and reason for motivation and action in wealth improvement.

c) Creative use and expression of wealth.

Ability to create wealth can be developed through knowledge of how to use creativity to increase wealth and make it grow in all parts of one’s life. Creative wealth expression encourages the use of inspiration and vision to receive and communicate from the source of our wealth expression. Wealth meaning incorporates the use of and creation of wealth archetypes which help to symbolize what the meaning of wealth is in terms of how we choose wealth values and demonstrate meaningful expressions of the different types of wealth we like.

Wealth Improvement:

Wealth improvement in personal development also refers to wealth character. Skills and traits which define wealth character are acquired through an individual’s learning and application of wealth strategies that have been discovered and acquired through pursuing and following through on their own ideas of wealth improvement which in turn develop into an individual’s unique manner in which they build and express their wealth character.

The three main ingredients of wealth character are: a) The responsibility to handle wealth. Which is wealth being put to good use through constructive use and investment in it as a resource and also through the work a person does as a result of wealth improvement towards improvement of other things in life that give value and meaning on each plane of consciousness.

b) Higher awareness of wealth: Which means a greater understanding of its reality in terms of a larger view through extra mind awareness such as abstract reasoning and intuition to help discern the nature and type of wealth meaning the form and quality of wealth conveys. Also higher awareness through observation, communication and intelligent perception and recognition in the reading and interpretation of the meaning of wealth symbols and its signs.

c) Wealth improvement also refers to wealth meaning through knowledge about the power of wealth. The power of wealth when used correctly has tremendous positive effect in mastery of the lessons of wealth. Non abuse of wealth is a lesson in wealth conduct which stems from the right use of it as a means of support and beneficial growth. Also non abuse refers to advice and assistance about wealth, both from wealth experts, professional or good hearted people who are in a position to help further ones wealth goals and also from one’s own inner value system in which wealth is a part of.

Expression of true wealth is cultivated through the admirable human powers of will-love and the wise and intelligent use of wealth resources both material and spiritual. It’s those qualities which give true wealth meaning its power and the means for gratitude and benefits in being wealthy in different ways, not only for the benefit of one’s self but also for the benefit of dependents and others including society where there is cause for it.

Principles of Wealth:

Principles of wealth play a very important role in understanding the moral and ethical values of wealth in the inter relations between personal wealth values and the wealth values of a group and society where wealth improvement has a positive effect as a result of an individuals or group or business contribution of wealth however it may seem upon the wealth consciousness of society. The moral value of personal development in wealth meaning focuses on how to acquire and use wealth beneficially and wisely such as safeguarding and allotting wealth where it best serves its purpose.

Ethical conduct refers to wealth obtained from an honest living and awareness of it as an important factor in terms of its economical value and also through prevention of risk and non-wasteful use of the fruits of one’s labor. It also relates to knowledge of wealth and the value of wealth improvement through proper channels within the areas of wealth entrepreneurship.

Principles of wealth also include right conduct through self- made wealth which offers the best kind of wealth experience in terms of reward, fulfillment and self-reliance. Principles of wealth also include what we choose to value about life, self-evaluation of wealth standards, and what the soul’s needs are in terms of its intent and purpose in life. They also apply to spiritual wealth values where virtues of wealth such as mindfulness and cultivation of awareness in detachment from obsession and infatuation with wealth are employed in order to give wealth meaning a good foundation and firm footing upon which wealth improvement can be built upon.

Wealth meaning eventually becomes a natural expression of wealth in personal development. Wealth improvement comes with rewards in the form of benefits such as material needs of wealth and also the kind of richness we see in ourselves, others, nature, society and the natural order in which life’s abundance and wealth happens in so many different ways.  

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Originally, the term business-to-business was used to describe the communications between enterprises so as to differentiate it from the communications between enterprises or businesses and consumers. In the current scenario, B2B is also used in marketing to describe products and services put into use by enterprises. B2B marketing strategies have assumed great significance because they are instrumental in its overall success. B2B branding, pricing, promotion, campaigning are some of the aspects of marketing strategies. Experts are of the view that B2B shares the largest part of all marketing while its market value far exceeds that of the consumer market.

According to the expert analysts, there are three factors which are driving the phenomenal growth of B2B marketing. The first is the revolution of technology which is constantly evolving thereby spawning newer products and services. Next is the entrepreneurial revolution. The companies are engaged in a cut-throat competition where the business adage is change or perish. Unexplored markets are being tapped aggressively while new uses of existing products are being found by way of innovation to maintain their competitive edge. The third revolution is taking place within B2B marketing itself. Traditional theories and assumptions are being challenged while conventional work processes are being replaced by new models and concepts. Building relationships with consumers a well as different forms of partnerships are the new defining mantra of marketing.

The impact of the internet on B2B marketing has been more than apparent. Internet is instrumental in presenting new opportunities to businesses while it improved customer service and retention. With its advent, new businesses which are of by-products by nature have emerged. If the glaring facts and statistics are what to go by, B2B is the next marketing phenomenon which is potent enough to change its dynamics for good.

Shadow inventory has continued to decline throughout 2013. The Federal Savings Bank reminds readers that the term “shadow inventory” is an important real estate aspect to follow because it stands for properties that are either in foreclosure and have not been sold yet or homes that owners are delaying to put on the market until conditions improve. Since shadow inventory has declined throughout 2013 we may use this economic component (apart from others such as new homes sales, pending home sales, and housing starts) as a re-confirming indicator that housing is on the road to recovery.

The last time The Federal Savings Bank spoke about shadow inventory was on on January 4th when it reported that inventories were down 12.3% from October 2011 to 2012. The bank is now proud to echo news from CoreLogic, a leading provider of information, that shadow inventory has declined 18% from January 2012 to 2013.

“The trend in shadow inventory continues to support a housing recovery. In fact, given that the January year over year numbers show a larger decline than that of October, we see the housing recovery gaining momentum in recent months” says Nick a bank at The Federal Savings Bank.

The numbers are impressive as shadow inventory for January 2013 was 2.2 million units which is 28% below a peak number in January 2010. With these healthy reductions in shadow inventory first-time homebuyers should seriously consider the implications of a more active housing market and higher home prices. Homebuyers may wait for property values to decline or for interest rates to fall further, but this wait may be at the expense of higher home prices.

The Federal Savings Bank encourages all its perspective mortgage applicants to get their finances and paperwork in order so that they may get approved for a mortgage as soon as possible. When approved for a mortgage, the individual may revise their property search with their agent and gain the advantage of looking like a serious buyer when placing a bid on a listing. For more information on the housing market or to read more information about mortgages please visit: TheFederalSavingsBank.com

Now the term “Van Leasing” can easily be understood. So it means that one uses a van for the particular time period and then pays for the time of use. Now a day, Van Lease has become a business as it yields attractive monthly returns. What do the people do who own vehicles; they rent out these vehicles and get a handsome amount per month from such one vehicle. There are many companies who earn by renting out vehicles. Some companies usually offer two choices, one is ‘straight lease’ and other is ‘purchase lease’.

Straight Lease means that one gets the van on lease and after using it for a particular time return it to owner. On the other hand, ‘purchase lease’ gives one option to buy van at the end of the term. In this way, it even becomes easy for one to give individual payments on monthly basis instead of large cash outlay at once. So purchase lease doesn’t burden the buyer who gets it in the end.

Leasing a van is advantageous in many ways. Now a day most of companies who do this kind of business offer different packages along with van leasing. Most of the packages include maintenance and breakdown cover. And if there is any kind of breakdown then company would fix it, this is not headache of tenant.

And also the leasing company is responsible for the risk of depreciation of van; the renter has no need to worry about selling it.

Van Leasing is a heady way in many aspects in order to get the benefit from it. It can be easily judged by doing comparison of buying and leasing. When an individual or a company buys a van, they have to pay full price to run it whose value is depreciating also constantly. And once paid for it, the van is yours, and if you need to sell, you can do. On the other hand, if a van is leased then you only have to pay for the period that you use it. So by making monthly payments only for the duration of contract and in the end, just hand it over with no worries of resale. At the end of term, you simply return it and even have option to take another on a new agreement. This idea of van leasing has been developed to make motoring tension free and risk free. And especially the packages like maintenance, warranties and breakdown assistance make it more beneficial for the renters only at the cost of mileage restrictions. And mileages restriction is imposed only if you exceed certain limit. The only disadvantage of leasing a van as compared to buying is that you don’t have any ownership at the end of deal. Just return it and go away from any kind of deal.

One of the most effective ways of generating clients in this industry is through referrals. However, not all of your previous clients can refer you to new ones. Another limitation is when you are still a budding broker, wherein you don’t have any clients yet to help you with referrals. Mortgage marketing is a way to keep you afloat in this field, because you need to take the initiative in bringing your business to your clients rather than waiting for them to come to you.

There are several tips that you can follow in order to make the most out of mortgage marketing. The first one is to think of ways that will set you apart from your competition in a good way. Make your clients call you rather than calling them to blindly pitch something that they don’t need. Next is to have the best people surround your business, that’s why you need to convince the best real estate agents to help you. This will improve lead generation and brand recognition. Finally, make sure that your existing clients are well taken care of. This way, you can get more referrals out of them and they could spread positive news for your company. They are also potential repeat customers, so taking care of them is really the key to taking care of your business. To learn more about Mortgage Marketing, go to http://www.usafinanceoffice.com.