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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8 Estate Planning Steps to Crafting the Right Will for You
You don’t really write your will, and most people shouldn’t try. But you can be sure the will is done correctly. In this visit we discuss how to shepherd your will through the estate planning process. It doesn’t take much to tarnish a gem of an estate plan, and with it your legacy. A misplaced […]
The Most Efficient Estate Planning Way to Help the Grandkids
There are many ways you can help a grandchild or child. There are so many Estate Planning options that people are confused and often procrastinate about helping because they aren’t sure which route to take. Let’s look at the better options and examine the pros and cons of each. Estate Planning Strategy #1 529 […]
Ensuring the Estate Planning Tax Exemption is Portable
Since 2010, it’s been easier for married couples to maximize the use of each spouse’s Estate Planning tax exemption. Estate planning professionals call this portability, though the word isn’t used in the tax law. It works like this. The estate of the first spouse to pass away is exempt from estate taxes up to $5.25 […]
Estate Planning for Married Couples and the New Estate Tax
Uncertainty about the estate tax is resolved. You don’t have to worry about frequent shifts anymore. Now, it’s time to consider how the new rules affect your Estate Planning and revise your plan. You know that the lifetime estate and gift tax exemption is set at $5 million per person, indexed for inflation. For 2013 […]
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Estate Planning for Your Legacy
There are no more excuses for procrastination and delay. The estate and gift tax law finally is set. There are no more temporary or expiring pro-visions or transition periods. People no longer can say they don’t want to incur the cost of Estate Planning that might have to be re-written in a few months because […]
Don’t Overlook Filing Gift Tax Returns for Your Estate Planning
You might need to file a gift tax return for your Estate Planning, even when no taxes are due. It might seem like a technicality, but the IRS penalizes people for not filing returns even when no tax was due. It’s been searching public records in some states, such as real estate title records, and […]
Avoiding the Estate Planning Personal Property Molehill-to-Mountain Track
Small items often cause the biggest Estate Planning problems. Anyone experienced with estates knows the worst disputes among heirs often are over what seem like trivial items. Even in a large estate, heirs might aggressively contest the disposition of a few pieces of furniture or personal mementos. Those small, personal items are the most likely […]
Two Estate Planning Tax-Wise Ways to Shift a Business
Many business owners scrambled to sell their businesses before the end of 2012 to avoid potential tax increases. If you didn’t sell, don’t worry. There are a couple of other Estate Planning tax-wise ways to transfer business ownership that don’t require you to rush. In one recent case, a taxpayer owned 100% of a corporation. […]
