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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November 2009
November 27, 2009 11:00 a.m. The Next Shoe? The tricky thing about a financial crisis is you never know what will trigger it or make it worse. Of those who thought the financial crisis was not over, few expressed the thought that a debt default by Dubai World would trigger the next phase of the […]
Giving Gifts and a Lecture
Grandparents are filling only half their roles these days. They are providing financial help to their grand-children. In fact, they increased their financial aid as the economy worsened. Unfortunately, they are offering gifts and providing financial aid without much advice. About 63% of grandparents say they provided some form of financial assistance to their grandchildren […]
The Keys to Estate Planning – Taxes and The Law
In fewer than 10 years Estate Planning changed dramatically and still is changing. When I first wrote about estate planning, estate taxes were the driver of most plans. Even middle class Americans – modest millionaires we called them – needed plans to avoid estate taxes. The estate tax code changed dramatically. The 2001 tax law […]
Estate Planning for Those with Special Needs
Estate Planning often focuses on healthy people and their families. Many families, however, have one or more members with chronic illnesses or conditions. That changes the estate planning equation. The person with the illness or condition might be the estate owner or a loved one of the owner, especially a child. In either case, the […]
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Why Estate Planning Details are Important: Debts and Estate Taxes
I regularly remind readers about the nitty gritty details of Estate Planning?stating who pays debts and taxes, ensuring whether the estate will have enough cash, and appointing executors and trustees. These are not as exciting as the issues that are most discussed, such as tax reduction strategies, but these are the key issues that determine […]
Simple, Low-Cost Ways to Help Family Members
The downturn in the economy and fall in asset prices puts many grandparents in a tough position. They want to help their children and grandchildren, but do not believe they can afford to help as much as in the past or as they hoped. Fortunately, you still can provide help. There are many simple, low-cost […]
A Checklist of Estate Planning Issues to Remember
Estate Planning discussions tend to focus on the big picture, big money issues. Who receives what? Should we use a living trust to avoid probate? If estate taxes are a possibility, the menu of estate tax reduction strategies is considered. There are a host of other issues that often are overlooked. Sometimes the estate planner […]
Roth IRAs for Summer Work
Here is a power-packed way to help your grandchildren or children this summer. It gives them a financial incentive to work, but it also is a long-term incentive that will show them the value of saving and investing. Plus, you will provide them the core of a nest egg with Roth IRAs. The strategy is […]
