When you look into the facts, you may decide that you would like to use a revocable living trust as your primary vehicle of asset transfer. These trusts provide a number of different advantages that you would not enjoy if you were to use a last will. The creator of the trust is called the grantor in legal parlance. A trust will have a beneficiary who receives monetary distributions, and there is also a trustee. With a revocable living trust, the grantor will typically act as … [Read more...] about What Is Trust Administration?
Estate Planning
What Are the Formal Requirements for a Valid Last Will?
The estate planning device called a last will or last will and testament is the most commonly understood asset transfer vehicle. Most people are aware of the fact that you can state your final wishes regarding the postmortem distribution of your resources with a last will. A person who creates a last will is called the testator. In the document, the testator will typically nominate an executor or personal representative. This is the person who will administer the estate … [Read more...] about What Are the Formal Requirements for a Valid Last Will?
Does Your Estate Plan Need a Tune-Up in 2015?
Each year people tend to make resolutions, and in many cases, you will resolve to take care of things that you have been procrastinating about. This should enter the picture if you have not reviewed your estate plan in some time. Estate planning is not something that is permanently accomplished in one sitting, unless you concoct your estate plan while you are lying on your death bed. If you are responsible about making sure that you have all of your bases covered, you will take … [Read more...] about Does Your Estate Plan Need a Tune-Up in 2015?
Can an IRA Be Part of My Estate Plan?
When you are planning for retirement, your individual retirement account (IRA) may well be the centerpiece around which you build your nest egg. There are two different types of individual retirement accounts that are widely utilized: traditional individual retirement accounts, and Roth IRAs. They are similar in some ways, and there are also major differences. Traditional IRAs You can start to take penalty-free withdrawals when you reach the age of 59.5 with either type of … [Read more...] about Can an IRA Be Part of My Estate Plan?
Estate Tax Expansion Included in 2016 Budget Proposal
Each year the White House releases a proposed budget for the following year, and as you may imagine, there is a great deal of ground to cover when you are talking about that much spending. As a result, the hefty volume is referred to as the "blue book." The budget proposal for 2016 has been released, and it includes an expansion to the federal estate tax. If this budget was to be adopted, many more families would be exposed to the death levy. To understand the proposal, you … [Read more...] about Estate Tax Expansion Included in 2016 Budget Proposal
Why Is a Living Trust Better Than a Power of Attorney?
People who start to scratch the surface with regard to estate planning often come away with some misconceptions because they have incomplete information. With this in mind, we will draw some distinctions between powers of attorney and living trusts in this blog post. Representation When you create a power of attorney, you are giving someone else the power to act on your behalf in a legally binding manner. In the field of estate planning, durable powers of attorney are used to … [Read more...] about Why Is a Living Trust Better Than a Power of Attorney?
How Does a Living Trust Terminate?
Before you make any final estate planning decisions, you should understand how a revocable living trust could be beneficial to you. People who are not extraordinarily wealthy sometimes overlook trust creation, because they think trusts are only useful for high net worth families. In fact, this is not the case with a revocable living trust. There are multiple different benefits that you derive when you use a revocable living trust as a vehicle of asset transfer. Probate … [Read more...] about How Does a Living Trust Terminate?
Why Do I Need a Will?
People often question the value of estate planning. They do not understand why they should execute a last will or some other vehicle of asset transfer. If you don't have a will or some other estate planning document directing the distribution of your assets, the condition of intestacy will result. Under these circumstances, assets that were in your personal possession would become probate assets. The probate court would supervise the estate administration process, and after … [Read more...] about Why Do I Need a Will?
What Is an Irrevocable Trust?
An irrevocable trust is a type of trust that you cannot dissolve or revoke. Once you create this type of trust, you cannot call the whole thing off and take back the assets. Why would you want to take this type of risk? There are various different reasons why people decide to utilize irrevocable trusts. We will look at some of them in this blog post. Estate Tax Efficiency In a general sense, you would want to consider the utilization of an irrevocable trust if you … [Read more...] about What Is an Irrevocable Trust?
Is There an Inheritance Tax in Indiana?
Taxes that can come into play when assets are being transferred can be confusing. You have probably heard of the estate tax, and you may assume that an inheritance tax and an estate tax are the same thing. In reality, these are two different forms of taxation. We will look at the distinctions in this post, and we will focus on taxes that can impact Indiana residents. Estate Tax An estate tax would be imposed on the entire taxable portion of the estate in question. Some … [Read more...] about Is There an Inheritance Tax in Indiana?
