People often put estate planning on the back burner, but when you start to seriously consider your own mortality, the matter can take on a very profound level of importance. Clearly, you want to take care of practical matters, but you also may take stock of your broader legacy.If you feel as though you would like to shape the way you are remembered, you could engage in a more complete form of estate planning called legacy planning. There are various different steps that you can take to … [Read more...]
Can You Give Gifts to Avoid Estate Taxes?
It is fantastic to be able to achieve all of your financial goals and be in a position to pass along a meaningful legacy to your loved ones. This being stated, you do have to contend with a significant challenge when it comes to wealth preservation. There is a federal estate tax in the United States, and it can have a huge impact, because it carries a 40% maximum rate.Before we get into the subject of gift giving, we should provide some extensive details about this death levy. Everyone does … [Read more...]
What Qualities Should an Executor Possess?
The estate planning process is going to culminate in the administration of the estate. When you use a last will to direct future asset transfers, you name an executor, and this is the person who will be handling the estate administration tasks after you pass away.There is a common misconception with regard to the estate administration process. You may imagine the executor calling family members into a study for a "reading of the will." The suggestion is that the executor can follow the … [Read more...]
Tax Planning for 2020
Planning is important for your income taxation during life as well as for any estate tax at death. Even though 2020 is just starting, it’s not too early to think about planning for whatever it may bring your way.Tax Planning for 2020 … [Read more...]
Can a Living Trust Be Contested?
To understand the context of the question that serves as the title of this blog post, you have to digest some background information about probate. The most widely utilized vehicle of asset transfer in the field of estate planning is the last will. Many people assume that a last will is the ideal choice, because it is a simple method to get assets into the hands of your loved ones after you are gone.In fact, it is not as simple as it may seem to be on the surface. If you were to execute a … [Read more...]
Make Estate Planning Your New Year’s Resolution
Earlier this year, Caring.com conducted a survey in an effort to get a feel for the estate planning preparedness of American adults. Unfortunately, the results were not encouraging.While 76% of people that responded said that they understood why estate planning is important, only 40% of these people actually had plans in place. As you might imagine, older people are more prepared than younger adults, but the statistics for those that are getting up in years are quite surprising.Only 18% … [Read more...]
What Are Advance Directives for Health Care?
A well-constructed estate plan will go beyond the facilitation of postmortem asset transfers. It will also address eventualities that you may well face toward the end of your life. To understand the importance of this facet of your plan, you have to hear some statistics on aging.Life ExpectancyUntil you have actually had a particular experience, it is pretty much impossible to put yourself in that position. For example, when you were a little child, you were probably incapable of being able … [Read more...]
Reasons an Estate Plan Could Be Challenged: Part 1 – Formal Requirements
An Estate Plan is an essential part of your planning process. But there are ways an Estate Plan can be challenged as being invalid. This is part of a series of articles on ways an Estate Plan might be invalid and how to avoid these pitfalls.Reasons an Estate Plan Could Be Challenged: Part 1 – Formal Requirements … [Read more...]
A Conversation With an Estate Planning Lawyer
Sometimes the best way to get the gist of a subject is to absorb a series of relatively quick questions and answers. In this post, we are going to provide a hypothetical conversation between a new client and an estate planning attorney. After you go through it, you will come away with a much better understanding of the estate planning process.You don’t need an estate plan until you are a senior citizen, right?Unfortunately, far too many people adopt this perspective. Studies consistently … [Read more...]
Wealthy Families Face Estate Tax Challenges
Without question, financial success is a beautiful thing, but there is one drawback that goes along with it. We have a federal estate tax in place, and it carries a whopping 40 percent maximum rate.The good news is that there is an estate tax credit or exclusion that allows you to transfer a certain amount before the estate tax would kick in. There are annual adjustments to account for inflation, but at the time of this writing in 2019, the federal estate tax exclusion is $11.4 … [Read more...]
