When you are planning your estate, part of the process involves positioning your assets optimally for protection and tax efficiency. This is the hard financial side of the endeavor, but there is a human side as well. You may be in a position to bequeath large sums of money to the people that you love the most, and on the surface this can seem like the easiest thing in the world. Nobody wants to pass away, but when your time has come it is nice to know that you are in a … [Read more...] about Incentive Trusts: Subtle Guidance
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3 Revocable Living Trust Benefits
A Revocable Living Trust is a commonly used estate planning tool. It works in conjunction with ancillary documents such as a Pour-Over-Will, Financial Powers of Attorney, Medical Powers of Attorney, the Living Will, HIPAA Releases, and Organ Donation forms. “Revocable” means that the Trust can be revoked or amended at any time. “Living” means that you create the Trust while you are alive. And, a “Trust” is a type of contract. Here is a summary of Revocable Living Trust … [Read more...] about 3 Revocable Living Trust Benefits
When to Update your Will
When creating a Will, it is not a once and done activity. Estate planning, which includes creating a Will, is a process. It is wise to consult with your estate planning attorney every three to five years to update your plan to reflect changes in your life, goals, and assets; changes in the law; and changes in your estate planning attorney’s experience. When creating a Will keep in mind that you should contact your estate planning attorney immediately (don’t wait for the three … [Read more...] about When to Update your Will
Yes, You Can Protect Your Child’s Inheritance from Divorce
Asset Protection Planning Asset protection planning is an important part of your estate plan. If you’re like most people, you have worked hard your entire life to earn and save your assets. And, you would like to give a gift to your children during your lifetime or after your death. Either way, ask your estate planning attorney how to incorporate asset protection planning into your estate planning so that your gift is not taken in a divorce. More than half of us get … [Read more...] about Yes, You Can Protect Your Child’s Inheritance from Divorce
Probate Avoidance Toolkit
You hear a lot about avoiding probate, and since it is such a common topic in estate planning circles we sometimes overlook the fact that the layman may not know what probate is or why you would want to avoid. To put it very succinctly, probate is the legal process that your estate must pass through before it can be distributed to your heirs. The probate or surrogate court examines the will, determines its validity, and supervises its administration. The reasons why people try to avoid it is … [Read more...] about Probate Avoidance Toolkit
Buy Sell Agreements For Small Business Succession
When you are planning your estate after having worked for a company all of your life, you have particular challenges. However, small business owners who are involved in partnerships have many of the same circumstances to address and then some. When you are working for someone else or retired, your assets are your own to situate as you see fit. But when you are the co-owner of a business, your share may represent a large portion of your overall net worth. So when you are planning your estate … [Read more...] about Buy Sell Agreements For Small Business Succession
Helping Others Through Donor Advised Funds
A lot of people feel as though it is not the government's job to cure all of society's ills, and this issue has been the primary political football for decades. Many would say that when the government tries to do so, it trips over itself in a tangle of red tape and inefficiency. Others would contend that it is simply not the role of the federal government under the Constitution to tax the people in order to redistribute resources. Yet all people agree that needs do exist, and those who would … [Read more...] about Helping Others Through Donor Advised Funds
Estate Planning & Your Responsibilities To Others
It is natural to take future events more seriously as they start to loom closer. For this reason many people don't think about estate planning until they reach middle age and beyond, and this is understandable, but misguided all the same. It is true that as you build assets and see your retirement over the horizon planning for the future becomes more immediately relevant. But making sure that you have a rudimentary estate plan in place could be viewed as one of the core responsibilities of … [Read more...] about Estate Planning & Your Responsibilities To Others
Advanced Health Care Directives: A Brief Overview
When you decide to do some research into estate planning you will invariably see a number of legal instruments referred to that you may not be entirely familiar with. Advance health care directives can fall into this category for many people, so we would like to provide a brief overview to give you an idea of what these vehicles are intended to achieve and why they are important. The most commonly used advance health care directives are the living will and the durable medical power of … [Read more...] about Advanced Health Care Directives: A Brief Overview
Intelligent Estate Planning, Gifts & Tax Efficiency
When you are interested in reducing the value of your estate in an effort to gain estate tax efficiency, you may want to consider the practice of tax-free gift giving. Of course, the tax man is well aware of the fact that people could choose to give their assets away to their heirs before they pass away in an effort to sidestep the estate tax. So there is a gift tax in place to close this potential loophole, and the rate of taxation mirrors that of the estate tax. There is a lifetime gift tax … [Read more...] about Intelligent Estate Planning, Gifts & Tax Efficiency
