Estate Planning

For an estate plan to work as planned, it must be well thought out and encompass much more than simply deciding what will happen to your estate assets when you are gone. The most amazingly well drafted estate plan will fail, however, if that plan is not reviewed and updated on a regular basis and upon the occurrence of certain special events. One factor that should call for a review of your estate plan, but that people rarely realize is important, is gentrification. At this point you may be … [Read more...] about How Does Gentrification Affect Your Estate Plan?

Comprehensive estate planning requires you to do much more than simply decide who will receive your estate assets when you are gone. If you have a moderate to large estate, one of the most important additional goals of your estate plan should be tax avoidance. If you fail to plan for the impact of federal gift and estate taxes, for example, your estate could lose up to 40 percent of its value to Uncle Sam. The need to incorporate tax avoidance techniques into your estate plan is particularly … [Read more...] about When Is a Qualified Domestic Trust the Solution?

Creating a comprehensive estate plan is vital for everyone, without regard to the size or value of your estate. Although woman tend to be less likely to be involved in estate planning, there are reasons why having a plan in place is actually more important for women. At the top of the list of those reasons is the strong likelihood that a woman will outlive her husband by several years. Without a well thought out estate plan in place, this can cause financial havoc at best and financial … [Read more...] about Estate Planning for Women — Planning to Outlive Your Spouse

It is important to act in an informed manner when you are planning your estate. If you take action without all the necessary information, you could ultimately make less than ideal choices. Many people assume that trusts are only useful for wealthy people. They are under the impression that trusts are complicated, and last wills are simple. The idea is that the heirs to the estate will receive their inheritances in a timely manner if a last will is used as a vehicle of asset transfer. In … [Read more...] about When Do You Need a Probate Lawyer?

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