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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Trustee Strategies for the 21st Century
Trusts are part of more and more estate plans. Often trusts are used to hold and manage assets for younger generations. Sometimes the beneficiaries are too young or inexperienced to manage the assets. Other times the older generation is afraid the younger generation might not resist the temptation to spend direct gifts of the property. […]
Housing Slump Can Help Your Estate Planning – The Qualified Personal Resident Trust
A market drop often creates opportunities in Estate Planning. The ongoing decline in housing prices creates such an opportunity. Estate and gift taxes are imposed on the value of property. It follows that a decline in market value means property can be transferred at a lower cost. Those who own estates worth more than $2 […]
Safeguard Your Will and Estate Plan from Legal Challenges
Few events disrupt an estate plan and family harmony more than a will contest or other challenge to the plan. The specific challenges might not be predictable, because they often are triggered more by emotions than finances. But the risk of a contest almost always is present, and estate owners should know that they can […]
March 2008
March 24, 2008 01:00 p.m. Finally, a Bottom? There have been several false bottoms in the markets since the mortgage and credit crises began in August 2007. Last week’s holiday-shortened market action looks more positive than the previous bottom attempts. It was accompanied by several prominent forecasts that we had reached a bottom, including a […]
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Estate Planning for Singles (with and without Kids)
A perusal of Estate Planning literature gives the impression that every senior in America is part of a married couple with two or more kids. We know that is not true, and those who do not fit the profile need estate planning guidance at least as much as the stereotypical couple does. Unmarried estate planning […]
How to Avoid Unexpected Estate Battles over Personal Items
Few things amaze estate planners more than the property heirs choose to fight over. The worst disputes often seem to occur over items that most outsiders consider trivial. Furniture, personal mementoes, and the like seem to trigger emotional reactions in heirs. Sometimes an heir simply is looking for an excuse to vent a long-held grievance; […]
February 2008
February 24, 2008 03:00 p.m. A Digest of Analyses and Forecasts This past week I was treated to a range of presentations by a number of top investment professionals. You haven’t heard of many of them, but they are well regarded and worth listening to. I attended a seminar in Stamford, Connecticut and also heard […]
Estate Planning for IRAs
Unique Estate Planning strategies are required for Individual Retirement Arrangements. Many people focus on how to build their IRA balances and how much to withdraw. The treatment of IRAs in estate planning often is overlooked. An estate plan for IRAs should answer these questions: What will be the estate tax and income tax bills? Who […]
