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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The Limits Of Forecasting
As Hurricane Florence approached and then pummeled the mid-Atlantic coast, Elaine and I studied weather forecasts. We weren’t expecting a direct hit from the storm, but a lot of rain and strong winds were possibilities. Each time the storm shifted, so did the forecasts. During the week, forecasts for our area shifted from three to […]
How to Secure Your Digital Legacy in Your Estate Plan
Almost all of us have digital assets that should be included in our estate plans. Technology and digital assets have become major parts of most of our lives, often more than we realize. A digital asset is any account, electronic device, or portion of a website that is password-protected. That covers a lot of ground. […]
7 IRA Strategies to Consider for Year’s-End 2018
It is time for IRA owners to be proactive by planning and implementing their strategies for the rest of the year. There are many steps that can in-crease the after-tax wealth of your IRA.These actions can reduce income taxes,avoid penalties, increase after-tax investment returns and more. But you don’t want to be like most people […]
Avoid the Gift Tax Return Trap
You might need to file a gift tax return,even if you won’t owe gift or estate taxes.The IRS can impose penalties for not filing a gift tax return, even when no tax was due. The IRS began clamping down on unfiled gift tax returns a few years ago, because many people don’t know the gift […]
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Avoiding the Major Mistake Made with Most Trusts
Many people leave money on the table and holes in their estate plans when they use the traditional approach to creating and planning trusts. The traditional approach is to name one trustee to manage every-thing about the trust. Sometimes this is a professional trustee, such as a bank or trust company, but it also could […]
7 “Action Steps” Missing from your Estate Planning Checklist and Strategy: Part 2
No matter what your net worth is, an estate plan is always worth putting into place. It’s a legally binding document that spells out who gets your assets… It offers ways to limit the tax burden on your estate… And it helps your loved ones from having to deal with too many administrative nightmares after […]
The 7 “Action Steps” Missing from Your Estate Planning Checklist and Strategy
Most people, especially those with at least modest wealth, have engaged in some Estate Planning. Yet few people have complete plans. More likely than not, your estate plan is going to have gaps. There are plenty of anecdotes to support the statement, but there is also concrete evidence. I regularly see surveys of either estate […]
The Charitable Remainder Trust: How to Protect & Stretch Your IRA
The number of people naming charitable trusts as IRA beneficiaries is climbing, and for good reasons. Typically, IRA beneficiaries are individuals, often the surviving spouse or the adult children of the owner. The goal often is to create a Stretch IRA, with the beneficiary taking only required minimum distributions (RMDs) each year so the tax-deferred […]
Asset Protection
Building a Legacy
Business Ownership and Succession
Digital Assets Estate Planning
Estate Planning Basics
Estate Planning Checklist
Estate Planning for Singles
Estate Planning Forms and Documents
Estate Planning Mistakes
Estate Planning Strategies
Estate Tax
Executors and Trustees
Family Limited Partnerships
Gifts and Gift Giving
Grandchildren
Heirs, Beneficiaries, and Children
IRAs & Your Estate
Power of Attorney
Probate
Trusts
Wills and Estate Planning
