Category: News & Events
Estate Planning Attorney Bobbi Hermanson-Albers Joins Barna, Guzy & Steffen, Ltd.
August 28, 2019 | Barna, Guzy & Steffen, Ltd.Barna, Guzy & Steffen LTD. announces the addition of a new associate to our firm. Bobbi Hermanson-Albers has joined the firm’s Estate Planning department. She will be working closely with estate planning attorney William H. Huefner practicing in the firm’s growing Wills/Estates & Probate/Tax Planning Law area serving existing clients and enhancing the firm’s ability to serve our community. We are happy to welcome Bobbi to BGS from her most recent position practicing in family law at a boutique law firm in Minneapolis. She has also previously worked in Minnesota’s 10th Judicial District Court (Stillwater, MN) as a Judicial Law clerk to the Honorable B. William Ekstrum. Bobbi graduated cum laude from Hamline University School of Law in 2014 ranked in the top 15 of her class. In addition to earning her Juris Doctor, she holds a Certificate in Advocacy and Problem Solving from Hamline University which uniquely qualifies her in direct to consumer law, assisting clients to navigate the legal system during challenges and changes in their lives. Bobbi is excited about the opportunity to join BGS as Wills/Estates attorney, “I look forward to working with Bill Huefner to identify practical solutions that best meet the unique, long-term planning needs of each of our BGS clients.” Get help with your legal questions!
Read MoreWhat Drivers and Employers Need to Know About the New MN Hands Free Law
July 26, 2019 | Scott M. LepakBefore we get started, the employment law attorneys at BGS would like to thank our clients (old and new) for the massive response and positive feedback on the MN Wage Theft Law blog. We have not been able to verify rumors that the legislature decided that employers didn’t have enough to do going into the last legislative session and did their best to remedy that concern. Come to think of it, we would like to thank the legislature for making sure we never run short of business.The next big thing for drivers and Minnesota employers that came about in the last legislative session was the hands free law. The hands free law comes into effect next month (August 1) and will affect drivers and many employers across Minnesota. Fortunately, this law presents a more straightforward issue for employers than the often murky wage theft law requirements. The hands free laws (Minn. Stat. §§ 169.011, subd. 94 and 169.475) aim to ensure roads are safe from technologically distracted drivers. Starting August 1, 2019, law enforcement will be pulling folks over for speaking on the phone, listening to music, podcasts, or the most recent bestseller, as well as watching videos or looking at pictures, games or software applications if these drivers have their phones in…
Read MoreIRS Expands Self-Correction of Plan Qualification Errors
May 14, 2019 | Barna, Guzy & Steffen, Ltd.In 2018, the IRS modified its program for correction of plan qualification failures to significantly increase the fees for getting approval of corrections under the Voluntary Compliance Program (“VCP”). Since that occurred, the IRS has issued expanded permissible self-correction methods under Revenue Procedure 2019-19. This new Procedure provides many new ways in which a plan sponsor may act independently to fix errors to retain the plan’s tax qualification, without IRS filings, user fees, or other involvement. The new procedure permits plans to self-correct failures in two categories that previously required VCP filings: problems with participant loans and plan amendments. 1. In regards to loan failures, the new procedure permits self-correction of loan failures if the failure relates to • A default on loan payments (if the five-year maximum repayment period has not expired); • Allowing participants to have multiple loans even though not permitted under the plan or loan procedure; • Providing a loan when the plan does not permit (which was allowed under the old procedure, and continues under the new); or • The failure to obtain spousal consent (assuming that the spouse is now willing to provide that consent—if not, VCP is required to repair this failure). A loan failure correction of the above can either result in participant avoiding being…
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