Estate Planning

If you have always thought that you should use a last will as the document that will serve as the centerpiece of your estate plan, you may want to look into the benefits that you could gain if you use a living trust instead. You do not necessarily have to be a millionaire to create this type of trust, and you do not lose control of the assets while you are living. A living trust is revocable, so you can dissolve the trust entirely if you ever want to do so and walk away with the assets in … [Read more...] about Should I Use a Corporate Trustee?

You pay many different taxes throughout your life. The assets that comprise your estate are the resources that you were able to hang onto after paying all of these taxes. It would be logical to assume that the event of your death should not be a taxable one. However, whether it is fair or not, there is an estate tax in place. This tax can have a very profound impact on the future of your family. The maximum rate of the federal estate tax is 40 percent, and this can significantly erode the … [Read more...] about How Much Can You Transfer Free of the Estate Tax?

If you have been particularly successful from a financial standpoint, you may be in a position to make things more comfortable for your loved ones now and into the future. However, accumulating wealth is not enough. You must also preserve your wealth, because the federal estate tax looms large as a source of asset erosion. This tax carries a 40 percent maximum rate, and this is an attention-getting figure. Without question, a 40 percent death tax on the taxable portion of your estate can take … [Read more...] about What Is the Estate Tax Marital Deduction?

When you look into the subject, you find that the majority of American adults are unprepared when it comes to estate planning. This is a perplexing phenomenon, because everyone is going to pass away, and estate planning is something that you do for the benefit of the people that you love the most. If you were to die without a will or trust, the condition of intestacy would be the result. There are certain types of property transfers that would take place organically if you did not have a will … [Read more...] about What Happens If I Die Without a Will or Trust in California?

Whether it is fair or not, there are taxes on large asset transfers in the United States. Those who speak of unfairness point out the fact that you are transferring assets that you have left after you paid taxes throughout your life, but apparently, the tax man sees things a different way. One tax on asset transfers is the generation-skipping transfer tax. This tax is potentially applicable on large asset transfers to family members who are more than one generation younger than you are. It can … [Read more...] about What Is the Generation-Skipping Transfer Tax?

The federal gift tax is in place to prevent people from giving gifts in an effort to avoid the estate tax. Shortly after the enactment of the estate tax in 1916, people did give gifts to sidestep the tax, because there was no gift tax. The gift tax was enacted a few years later, and after a brief repeal, it was reenacted in 1932, and it has been in place ever since. Annual Gift Tax Exclusion Every gift that you give is not going to be taxed, because there are some gift tax exclusions. One of … [Read more...] about What Is the Annual Gift Tax Exclusion?

A trustee is an estate administrator. When you create a revocable living trust, you can act as the trustee while you are living. Ultimately, you are creating the trust to facilitate asset transfers after you die. To make this happen, you name a successor trustee in the trust declaration. The successor trustee would administer the estate after your passing. Choosing a Successor Trustee When you think about a successor trustee, you may start to scour your mind for people that you know who may be … [Read more...] about What Is a Living Trust Successor Trustee?