Estate Planning
Estate Planning is the process of determining how your wealth and assets should be transferred to the heirs of your choice: your children, grandchildren, friends, families, charitable causes, etc. and then deciding which legal tools and structures to use to best meet your estate planning goals.
Estate planning is not simply reducing or eliminating taxes and avoiding probate. Only after establishing how you want your estate’s assets to be distributed should you consider ways to reduce taxes and avoid probate. From there, good estate plans deal with a host of other issues. Now, with all but a few estates exempt from the federal estate tax, those other issues are, or should be, at the forefront of estate planning.
An estate plan is to ensure that you are taken care of the rest of your life and that your wealth is transferred to the people you want to have it. A good estate plan ensures these goals are accomplished with as much efficiency and as little cost as possible. An estate plan addresses the management and distribution of an individual’s property and financial obligations after he or she dies with financial tools such as wills, revocable living trusts and power of attorney.
For a comprehensive overview of Estate Planning, please start with our article:
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Two Types of Trusts That Won’t Die
After the federal estate tax was repealed for most estates, many observers said two popular trusts no longer would be needed. They were wrong. These trusts are as valuable as ever. Benefits that once were considered ancillary now are important to many estates. Though no longer created primarily for estate tax reduction, these trusts can be essential […]
Estate Planning Lessons from Jerry Lewis’s Will
Comedian Jerry Lewis died recently at age 91. Unlike many celebrities, he apparently owned most of his assets outright and disposed of them through a will. That has a least two effects. One is that the estate must go through the time and expense of the probate process. The other effect is that the details […]
Another Reason to Have a Strong Will and Estate Plan
If you don’t have an estate plan, the government’s going to prepare one for you, and you might not like it. This article explains that when you don’t appoint a agent with a power of attorney or a successor trustee who can act for you when you start to fade, the government will appoint someone […]
Avoiding Big Mistakes with Gifts
Many people make mistakes in their gift giving. It’s not their fault. The rules on estate planning gifts are tricky. By learning the tricks, you can increase the after-tax wealth available to you and your loved ones. Reducing federal estate taxes no longer is the main motivation most of us have for making gifts, because […]
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How to Create an Estate Planning Strategy with an 8 Step Checklist – Part 2
Last week, we began our 8-point Estate Planning Checklist, including how to handle your will, and avoiding Probate. Today we’ll complete the checklist, starting with… Powers of attorney. You need these documents before you have a will, because you’re likely to become disabled or need help managing affairs before you pass away. There are two […]
Power of Attorney vs. Living Trust
Which is the best way to protect your assets, smooth the transition of your estate and make life easier for you and your heirs: the Power of Attorney or a revocable Living Trust? Most estate plans need both a power of attorney and revocable living trust. The real issue is which should cover the bulk of your assets? Over the years, I’ve heard from […]
Avoiding the Most Common Causes of Failed Estate Planning
Many estate plans end in failure, and most of those failures were preventable. Estate planners know that many plans don’t produce the results the owners intended. The failures usually don’t spring from the tax strategies or language in the will. The failures most often result from the human side, or soft side, of estate planning. […]
Should Estate Planning Ever Be Put On Hold Because of Potential Estate Tax Changes?
Tax reform proposals slowly are being developed in Congress, including changes in the estate tax. People are asking, “Should I delay my Estate Planning until the new law is clear?” We’ve been down this road before, and the answer is: You shouldn’t delay. Congress is looking at changing only the federal estate and gift taxes, […]
