Has anyone considered that it might just be easier to get a prenup? I'm not a lawyer but wouldn't that be a simpler way to establish which assets are pre-marital vs. marital property, including the entire HSA account?

I'm a tax attorney who's dealt with this exact scenario multiple times. The consensus here is correct - you absolutely cannot open a new HSA without current HDHP coverage, even for transfers from existing HSAs. However, I want to address the underlying asset protection concern. While detailed record-keeping is helpful, it's not bulletproof in divorce proceedings. Courts can still rule that investment growth during marriage constitutes marital property regardless of your documentation. The prenup suggestion is spot-on and would be much more legally robust. You could specify that your entire HSA (including future appreciation) remains separate property. Alternatively, the prenup could establish that only the pre-marital balance stays separate, with post-marriage growth being marital property - which achieves exactly what you were trying to do with separate accounts. Given that you're getting married in a few months, consulting with a family law attorney about including HSA provisions in a prenup would be far more effective than trying to navigate HSA eligibility rules. The legal protection would be stronger and you wouldn't have to wait for open enrollment periods or manage multiple accounts.

Anyone else notice that the business code doesn't really matter that much? I've used different codes for my consulting business over the years (sometimes management consulting, sometimes business consulting) and it's never made any difference to my taxes or triggered any questions from the IRS. I think we're all overthinking this lol.

For pottery specifically, you'll want to look at code 327110 (Pottery and Ceramics Manufacturing) if you're primarily making the pottery yourself, or 453998 (All Other Miscellaneous Store Retailers) if you're mainly selling pottery made by others. Since you mentioned designing and selling custom pottery, 327110 is probably your best bet. The IRS Publication 535 also has a helpful table that cross-references business activities with the correct codes. You can download it from irs.gov and it's much easier to navigate than digging through the Schedule C instructions. Don't stress too much about getting it perfect - as long as it reasonably describes your business activity, you'll be fine!

Don't forget about the 50% rule for meals! I made this mistake last year and had to do an amended return. You can only deduct 50% of your meal costs even if they're 100% business related. There's a temporary exception where some business meals were 100% deductible in 2021-2022, but that's gone now.

Great question! As someone who's been doing freelance work for a few years, I can confirm that both meals and mileage are legitimate business deductions when done properly. A few additional tips that haven't been mentioned yet: For meals, keep a brief note about the business purpose of each meeting - even just "discussed Q2 project proposal with potential client" is sufficient. The IRS wants to see a clear business connection, not just that you had lunch. For mileage, I'd strongly recommend the standard mileage rate (67.5 cents/mile for 2025) over actual expenses unless you have a very expensive car or do tons of business driving. It's much simpler and usually comes out about the same. One thing to watch out for: if you work from home as your main office, trips from home to clients ARE deductible. But if you have a separate office space that you rent, then trips from home to that office are considered commuting and not deductible. Also consider tracking other business expenses like client parking fees, tolls during business trips, and even business-related phone calls. These smaller deductions can really add up over the year!

Have your family look into potential medical expense deductions too! If your grandmother moved to assisted living or a nursing home for medical reasons, some of those costs might offset capital gains. The rules are complicated, but worth investigating.

Another strategy worth considering is charitable giving if your family is so inclined. If the trust donates the property (or a portion of the proceeds) to a qualified charity, they can potentially avoid capital gains tax on the donated amount AND get a charitable deduction for the fair market value. There are also charitable remainder trusts (CRTs) that could allow the family to receive income from the property sale over time while reducing the immediate tax burden. With a CRT, the trust sells the property tax-free, invests the proceeds, and pays out a percentage annually to your family members for a set period or their lifetimes. Whatever remains goes to the charity. Given the large gain from a $28k basis to today's values, even donating 10-20% could result in significant tax savings while still preserving most of the sale proceeds for your family. Definitely something to discuss with a tax advisor who understands charitable planning strategies.

One approach I haven't seen mentioned yet - have you considered taking a minimal owner's draw from your C Corp to at least cover your health insurance premiums? My accountant had me do this with my startup and then we documented it as a reimbursable business expense using an accountable plan. This gave me the tax advantages while still maintaining proper corporate structure during pre-revenue phase. It's worth asking your tax pro about this approach!

As someone who went through this exact situation with my C Corp startup, I can confirm that Sofia is absolutely correct - C Corps don't have "owner's draws" like LLCs do. Any money you take out has to be structured as salary (subject to payroll taxes), a loan (which needs to be documented and repaid), or dividends (which are taxed at capital gains rates but only make sense if the corp has profits). For your health insurance situation, Andre, here's what I learned after making some mistakes in my first year: Since you paid the premiums personally without any corporate involvement, you're limited to claiming them as itemized medical expenses on Schedule A for 2023. The 7.5% AGI threshold makes this pretty useless unless you have significant other medical expenses. Going forward, definitely set up a formal Health Reimbursement Arrangement (HRA) through your C Corp. Even without revenue, if you have any startup capital or investor funds, you can pay yourself a minimal salary and have the corp reimburse your health premiums as a tax-free employee benefit. The corp deducts the expense, and you don't pay taxes on the reimbursement. Much better than the Schedule A route! I wish I had known about this structure from day one - would have saved me a lot in taxes and headaches.