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You have a number of different options available to you when you are planning your estate with regard to vehicles of asset transfer. To be optimally prepared, you should make no assumptions and educate yourself so that you can make informed decisions. Everyone has heard of the last will or last will and testament. This is the most commonly utilized estate planning document. You may think that you should use a last will because you are not particularly wealthy. Many people assume that trusts are … [Read more...] about A Conversation With a Living Trust Attorney Can Be Enlightening

Financial matters will logically come to mind when you think about estate planning. However, if you want to be comprehensively prepared for the inevitable, you should consider the possibility of incapacity late in your life. When you read the term “late in your life,” you may immediately think about your senior years. Indeed, most people do pass away when they are senior citizens. However, as sad as it is, there are those who die at younger ages. Therefore, preparations that you would make for … [Read more...] about Why Would I Grant a Power of Attorney?

High net worth families should be quite concerned about the federal estate tax. This tax can alter the trajectory of your family's financial future, because it carries a very hefty 40 percent maximum rate. There is a federal estate tax credit or exclusion. This is the amount that can be transferred tax-free to people other than your spouse. For the rest of 2016, the estate tax exclusion stands at $5.45 million. There are annual adjustments to account for inflation, so the exclusion is … [Read more...] about Estate Planning, Taxation, and Your Home

There are different types of asset transfer vehicles that you can use when you are planning your estate. You can choose to use a simple will to state your final wishes, but you do have other options. Why would you want to consider an alternative to a simple will? Let's begin by answering this question. The Drawbacks of Probate Let's say that you maintain personal possession of your property throughout your life. You create a last will expressing your final wishes with regard to the … [Read more...] about A “Simple Will” May Not Be as Simple as You Think

When you are engaged in your estate planning efforts, you should sit back and evaluate the people who would have an interest in your estate. If you keep your head in the sand and assume that everything will fall into place after you are gone, difficulties can arise when everything is being sorted out. Many people assume that a last will is the right estate planning document if you are not a very wealthy person. When you create a will, you name an executor. This is the person who handles the … [Read more...] about Contesting a Will: What Are the Acceptable Grounds?

We all know how important it is to have an estate plan in place; yet, over half of all Americans do not have one. There are an infinite number of reasons and explanations people give as to why they have yet to create an estate plan, or at least execute a basic Last Will and Testament. One common reason, however, is that the decisions that must be made when creating a Last Will and Testament are not easy to make. Whether you have amassed a small fortune or a modest estate, the assets that make up … [Read more...] about Making Tough Decisions in Your Last Will and Testament

Every adult should have at least a basic estate plan in place. Exactly what components need to be in that plan will depend on the needs and concerns of the individual creating the plan. Estate planning for couples tends to be different than estate planning for someone who is single while estate planning for parents of minor children is different than for retirees. Likewise, estate planning for women will often focus on very different issues than estate planning for the typical male. This is one … [Read more...] about Estate Planning for Women

For the majority of your life your parents have likely given you advice and shown you how to do things. As your parents age, however, your roles may start to reverse, causing you to become the one doling out advice while your parents seek that advice. Estate planning is one area, in particular, where your parents may need your advice and guidance. If your parents live in an area that has experienced gentrification recently, for example, your parents may not even realize that they need to address … [Read more...] about Adult Children Whose Parents Need Planning, Particularly in Light of Impact of Gentrification