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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Should You Put Your Estate Planning Strategy On Hold? (8-Point Checklist)
Tax reform proposals are slowly 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, […]
Managing the Beneficiaries, Heirs, Trustees, and Executors in Your Estate Planning Process
There’s a time bomb ticking in many estate plans. You likely won’t know if the bomb explodes. The bombs explode in many estates, however, and the only question is how big the explosion will be. The “bomb” is the person, or people, you name to act for you. Whether they act during your lifetime or […]
Trusts as IRA Beneficiaries: Reaping the Benefits, Avoiding the Pitfalls
There are many good reasons to name a trust as an IRA beneficiary. But there also are some hazards to avoid. Trusts can make an Inherited IRA last longer. Through the trust terms and appointment of the trustee, you control how much money is distributed to the trust beneficiaries. For example, the trust can retain […]
David Rockefeller’s Will and the Benefits of Avoiding Probate
Wills are public documents. They’re filed in a local probate court and available for anyone to view. That’s why many wealthy people hold the bulk of their assets through trusts that avoid probate. David Rockefeller, the last remaining grandson of John D. Rockefeller, died recently. A large part of his wealth was held through family […]
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The New Look in Obituaries
If you don’t prepare an obituary as part of your estate planning package, your heirs might have a bit of fun with it, according to The Wall Street Journal (subscription might be required). The article says that funeral home directors noticed that in recent years survivors have been willing to point out that no one […]
The Dangers of Picking the Wrong Trustees
Most estates have a trust or two, especially as the estate is more valuable. People spend a lot of time working with their estate planners on the details of the trusts. Yet, picking the trustee or trustees often is an overthought. That’s a big mistake. This article describes how the estate of one of the […]
Transferring Family Real Estate To Heirs and Beneficiaries
Some assets require special Estate Planning. One such asset is what I sometimes call heirloom real estate or family real estate. This is a property that’s been in the family for a while and that you’d like to continue in family ownership. Heirloom real estate includes vacation homes or other second homes, farms, a longtime […]
7 Deadly Estate Planning Mistakes to Avoid
Estate Planning mistakes tend to be one of the classics. While every estate plan has unique features, the same problems and mistakes recur. Many mistakes don’t vary with the value of an estate and other factors. Each of the classic mistakes is avoidable. All that’s needed is knowledge of what to beware of and a […]
