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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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Estate Planning Gaps Can Be Fixed

January 1, 2016

Is your estate plan good enough to get the job done? Odds are it isn’t. Many estate plans have gaps and deficiencies, even plans that are developed by wealthy people in consultation with high-priced lawyers and other experts. When you’ve taken the time and gone to the expense of working on an estate plan, you […]

Leaving Unequal Inheritances to Heirs and Beneficiaries

December 2, 2015

Many people don’t even want to talk about leaving unequal inheritances to the younger generation, but a recent paper found that unequal inheritances occur more often than most people think. The paper identified the situations when unequal inheritances are most likely and even has some advice for members of the younger generation who want to […]

There’s At Least One Estate Planning Mistake In Every Family

December 1, 2015

Estate Planning professionals hear the stories all the time. They know they will hear them almost every time they meet with a new client. In the meetings, the estate plannning professional can see the signs in the hesitation and increased discomfort of the clients. The fact is, almost every family has at least one. There’s […]

7 Common Estate Planning Mistakes to Overcome

November 1, 2015

The simplest acts often turn out to cause the most problems for estates. Beneficiary designations and titles to assets are the most likely sources of mistakes and problems. Though estate planners are aware of the common mistakes and the consequences, many people aren’t. Simple, well-intentioned actions and failures to act often result in major problems. […]

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Knowing When Community Property Laws Matter

October 1, 2015

Each state controls how estates within it are transferred and settled. That means there are 50 different estate laws in the U.S. (More when the territories are counted.) There are both major and minor differences between these laws. There really are two very different major systems. One group of states uses community property laws, and […]

estate planning

Being Sure Your Will Does What You Want for your Estate Planning

October 1, 2015

As we roll into the last months of the year, many people take time to update their financial estate planning and put their financial houses in order. Revising or writing a will is an important part of the Estate Planning process. A will can decide who receives your property, on what terms they receive it, […]

Why and How to Prove Your Legal Residence and Minimize Estate Taxes

September 1, 2015

Many states don’t like when people leave theri residence to live in other states. It’s nothing personal. The state governments need your tax dollars, and some states will do anything they can do retain as much of your taxes as they can. A state won’t stop you from physically leaving, but it will argue that […]

Estate Planning

Important Estate Planning Changes for Estates and Executors

September 1, 2015

A couple of changes quietly crept into the law recently. They are major estate planning events for some estates and executors. Congress passed and the President signed a temporary extension of the highway trust fund in late July. The law contains a few tax provisions designed to raise some revenue, and one of those changes […]

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