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405-843-6100 | 918-615-2700 | ParmanLaw.com December 2025
Join Our Upcoming Live Webcasts! Plus, More on Trusts, Retirement Accounts, and Naming Beneficiaries
Clients and Friends,
protection. No plan for how distributions are handled if a beneficiary predeceases you. No plan for what happens if a minor- aged child becomes a beneficiary. The smart move is to name the Trust as the primary or secondary beneficiary. I often wonder if financial advisors too often take the easy way out regarding this advice simply because they do not want to do the work required to understand the rules. Let us know if you have questions. A growing concern we find ourselves addressing is a person’s capacity to create or amend their estate planning documents. Any disagreement among or between beneficiaries can trigger a dispute about whether Mom or Dad had the capacity to sign documents. How does one define capacity? How is it identified? How is it finally determined? As one example, the children of one of our Clients sued their mother and siblings after Mom made changes to her documents. They did not like being removed as a trustee and decided to go to court and argued that Mom was incapacitated. Ugly. Very ugly. Both sides spent over $200,000 in legal fees. As another example, we recently had to inform a couple that we were unable to assist them because it was clear to us that one of the parties did not possess legal capacity. She could not remember the names of her children. Capacity can be a tender, challenging, and awkward issue for the family. I could go on, but the purpose of this paragraph is to make you aware that we are dealing with capacity issues and working to help some of our Clients navigate a very delicate situation.
On behalf of our whole Team, we are deeply grateful you chose our firm to help you with your estate planning. We are deeply grateful to those of you who have chosen Intrepid Financial Services to help with your investments and financial/ retirement planning. Thank you for your online reviews. And thank you for your referrals. Your trust and confidence inspire us to be even better every day and serve you with excellence. This Holiday Season, our prayer is that you are physically, emotionally, and financially well. We wish you wonderful days with family and friends: the kids coming home to enjoy your unique recipes yet again, for naps after too much turkey, for grandchildren dipping their fingers in the pumpkin pie before it goes in the oven, and no one noticing when you drop cranberry sauce on your trousers or go back for “thirds.” Some of you have lost loved ones this year. We know the holidays are a challenging period. We share your loss. We knew them. We know the special people they were. You will be in our Holiday Season prayers. Today, and every day, embrace this gift of life. It is not a dress rehearsal. No one … no one … is promised a tomorrow. Seize this day. Squeeze it hard. Drain from it every
A few matters of importance for you today.
Scott and I are starting to host a 30-minute live webcast regularly where we will cover a wide range of legal and financial topics, most of which are centered around questions, challenges, and opportunities we hear from Clients. Give us a call for the scheduled dates and times. You will not want to miss these programs. For those who have created a Medicaid Asset Protection Trust (“MAPT”), we need to visit. The Department of Human Services (DHS) has tightened some of the rules concerning how a MAPT must be structured to exempt assets from Medicaid spend- down requirements. The changes include who is qualified to serve as a trustee and who is entitled to receive income from the trust. These are important points that require a change in some of your MAPTs. Call our office to set up an appointment or have a phone conference. We frequently receive questions about whether your trust can be named as a beneficiary of your retirement accounts, including an IRA. These questions often occur because a financial advisor gives our Clients poor advice. Your trust meets all the requirements as a “qualified designated beneficiary” of retirement accounts. Of course, you can name your children individually as the primary or secondary beneficiary of a retirement account. However, when you name children individually, they receive none of the protection you created for them within your trust. No divorce protection. No asset
drop you can and make every day a Great Day!
With deep gratitude,
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Keep More in the Family
Reduce Taxes With Strategic Gifting
When planning your legacy, gifting during your lifetime is thoughtful and strategic. Not only do your loved ones receive an early boost, but you may also shield more of your estate from federal taxes. Let’s break down six smart, actionable, and strategic ways across all states. Tap the annual gift tax exclusion. Every year, you can gift up to $19,000 per person (or $38,000 if married filing jointly) without trimming into your lifetime exemption or filing a gift-tax return. The best part is you can repeat it and share the love with an unlimited number of people. Over time, that’s a significant aggregation of tax-free transfers. Use your lifetime exemption. In 2025, the lifetime exemption is at $13.99 million per individual (and nearly $28 million for couples). In July 2025, Congress made the exemption amount permanent, so speculation about it dropping to half in 2026 has been laid to rest. In fact, the lifetime gift and estate tax exemption will increase to $15 million ($30 million per couple) on Jan. 1, 2026. Make direct payments that don’t count as gifts. You can pay unlimited amounts directly to medical providers or educational institutions for someone else’s benefit. These payments bypass the annual exclusion and the lifetime exemption limits, making them powerful and clean ways to help without tax consequences. Leverage trusts for smarter transfers. Qualified Personal Residence Trusts (QPRTs): Transfer your home to a trust while retaining the right to live there for a set
term. The gift’s taxable value is reduced thanks to the IRS’s calculation of your retained interest, meaning you minimize the use of your exclusion and remove future appreciation from your estate. Just be sure to outlive the term to reap the benefits. Intrafamily Loans: Loan money to loved ones at the IRS’s minimum applicable rate (when interest rates are low). If assets purchased with those funds appreciate, that growth shifts out of your estate and no gifting is required (unless you later forgive the loan).
“Gifting isn’t just financially savvy; it’s
Explore upstream gifting. If your parents or grandparents have estates far smaller than yours, you might gift appreciated assets upstream, allowing them to hold and later pass the assets down with a useful step- up in basis that reduces capital gains tax for future generations. Avoid estate inclusion with life insurance planning. Putting a life insurance policy into an Irrevocable Life Insurance Trust (ILIT) can remove it from your estate so the death benefit passes tax-free to beneficiaries. But watch out for the IRS’s three-year rule: Gifting the policy within three years of your death will bring the full value back into your estate. A great workaround is to have the ILIT purchase the policy outright. Gifting isn’t just financially savvy; it’s personal, philanthropic, and full of upsides for both giver and receiver. Thoughtful planning now lets your legacy grow, live on, and stay largely intact. personal, philanthropic, and full of upsides for both giver and receiver.”
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MARGIE’S KITCHEN JEZABEL SAUCE
The Hair- Cutting Intruder Who Terrorized a Town
by Darlene Parman
The Disturbing Tale of the Phantom Barber
Few things in life are scarier than knowing someone has broken into your home. In an instant, your sanctuary has been violated, and you worry about a return appearance in which they could steal from you or even harm you. During the early 1940s, the community in Pascagoula, Mississippi, was terrorized by a mysterious home intruder who was not after the wealth or health of the locals. Instead, this person was after something we always keep close to us. In mid-June 1942, 11-year-old Mary Evelyn Briggs and 12-year- old Edna Marie Hydel were sound asleep in their room within the Our Lady of Victories convent. Mary Evelyn woke up to a nightmarish sight. “I saw the figure of a kinda short, fat man bending over me with something shiny in his hand, and he was fooling with my hair. When he saw me open my eyes, he said, ‘Shhh.’ I yelled, and he jumped out the window,” stated Mary Evelyn. Although the two girls were unharmed, Mary Evelyn started the next morning with fewer inches of hair. Shortly after, 6-year-old Carol Peattie woke up to find somebody had chopped her hair while she slept. The only evidence left behind was a cut screen window and a sandy footprint. Before the end of June, an adult fell victim to the phantom barber while she slept beside her husband. During this time, the suspicion that the barber was using chloroform to keep his victims still started to spread. Local businesses and law enforcement offered a reward of $400 (about $8,000 today) for information that would lead to the “barber’s” arrest. Earlier in the month, an intruder with a lead pipe had attacked a couple in their home. Police theorized the barber was behind the attack, giving them a serious crime to work with. They would go on to arrest 57-year-old William A. Dolan, an individual the community detested due to his pro-German views. He stood trial, was found guilty, and sentenced to 10 years in prison. He maintained his innocence throughout his life and was released early after passing a lie detector test.
Here I share recipes my late, wonderful, gorgeous momma, Margie Trammell, cooked up to spread her love to family and friends. I sincerely hope you enjoy these recipes yourself and get to spread the love by sharing them with your family and friends. With the Holiday season upon us, here is a Southern appetizer to have ready in your refrigerator whenever you host. This is a perfect addition to football games, cocktail parties, or casual get-togethers. Margie kept Jezabel sauce on hand at all times, along with red or green pepper jelly and cream cheese. She was always prepared for company.
Ingredients
• 1 (10-oz) jar apple jelly • 1 (10-oz) jar pineapple fruit preserves • 1 (8-oz) jar prepared horseradish
• 1 tbsp ground dry mustard • 1 tsp cracked black pepper • 1/4 tsp crushed red pepper (optional)
Directions 1. In a small bowl, mix together apple jelly, pineapple fruit preserves, prepared horseradish, ground dry mustard, cracked black pepper, and crushed red pepper. 2. Cover and refrigerate 8 hours, or overnight, before serving. 3. Take out a cake of cream cheese and cover with Jezabel sauce. Serve with your favorite crackers or toast rounds! With the slight kick from the horseradish and the sweetness from the preserves, you have a sauce that’ll dress up any meat, cheese, or charcuterie board. 4. Put leftovers in a tightly sealed jar in the refrigerator. But it won’t last long! If you want us to share a recipe in Margie’s Kitchen, please email it to Info@ParmanLaw.com. We’ll feature it in our newsletter or on our website!
The Phantom Barber effectively disappeared after Dolan’s arrest, never to silently cut the hair of unsuspecting people again.
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Oklahoma City: 405-843-6100 Tulsa: 918-615-2700 ParmanLaw.com
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INSIDE THIS ISSUE
1
Information You Don’t Want to Miss!
2
Smart Gifting Moves to Protect Your Legacy
3
Jezabel Sauce
The Legend of the Phantom Barber
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The Hidden Price Tag on Clutter
We’ve all been there: staring at a closet full of clothes and thinking, “I have nothing to wear.” Or paying rent for a bigger apartment just to store things we barely use. Clutter isn’t just a space problem; it’s a money problem. Every unused subscription silently chips away at your finances. The good news is that minimalism offers a way out. Far from being about deprivation, it’s about reclaiming control of your space, spending, and savings. The Hidden Price of ‘Stuff’ Every purchase comes with two price tags: the sticker price and the hidden costs. That $50 gadget isn’t just $50; it might also mean higher credit card interest if you’re carrying debt, or another box in the attic eating up storage space. The more we accumulate, the more we pay to maintain, store, clean, and eventually replace those items. That’s where minimalism comes in. It forces us to ask: “Do I really need this, or is it just clutter in disguise?” Quality Over Quantity Minimalism doesn’t mean buying nothing. Instead, it’s about buying better. One high-quality pair of shoes can last for years, while three cheap pairs wear out quickly and cost more in the long run. Choosing durability and timeless designs over impulse buys protects your wallet and reduces waste. Simplifying Finances Clutter can even creep into your bank account. Old subscriptions, overlapping accounts, and unused memberships all nibble away at your budget. By canceling what you don’t use How Minimalism Can Save You Thousands THE COST OF CLUTTER
and streamlining your finances, you save money and reduce the mental load of tracking your bills. Downsizing Expenses One of the biggest financial wins of minimalism comes from downsizing. A smaller home or apartment doesn’t just mean lower rent or mortgage; it also slashes utilities, maintenance, insurance, and even property taxes. More Space for What Matters A clutter-free environment frees up mental bandwidth. With fewer distractions, you can focus on what truly matters: building a side hustle, nurturing relationships, or enjoying a calmer, more intentional life.
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