Estate Planning

A last will is not something that is just passed around among family members. After the passing of the testator, the last will would be admitted to probate. During the probate process, the Surrogate's Court would supervise the administration of the estate. There is a proving of the will during probate, and there are certain formal requirements that must be met in order for a last will to be valid in the eyes of the court. First off, the testator must create the will on his or her own accord …

When you are engaged in your estate planning efforts, you should understand the benefits that you could gain if you were to use a revocable living trust as your primary asset transfer vehicle. With a revocable living trust, you do not surrender control of the resources that you convey into it, because you can initially act as the trustee and the beneficiary. Plus, since you can revoke the trust, you could essentially "call the whole thing off" and take back direct personal possession of the …

When you hear about the existence of the federal estate tax, you may assume that you can simply give gifts to avoid this death tax. While this makes sense on the surface, the powers that be decided to close that loophole many years ago through the enactment of the gift tax. The gift tax and the estate tax are unified under the tax code. Gift Tax Exemptions There are some gift tax exemptions that can be used to give tax-free gifts. The exemptions are called exclusions in formal tax …

A last will is a legal document that can be used to facilitate asset transfers after you pass away. If you create a last will, you have covered one of your bases, but there are some other things to take into consideration when you are planning your estate. End-of-Life Issues Taking care of the things that will happen after you pass away will be part of the process, but you should also address end-of-life issues. Elders often become incapacitated, and you should take action to prepare for …

A last will is not something that is only passed around among certain family members. When you use a last will to state your wishes regarding the distribution of your personally held property, the executor that you name in the will must admit the will to probate. During this process, there is a proving of the will. The court examines the will to make sure that it is legally valid. Competency Requirements Any adult who is of sound mind is technically qualified to create a last will. The …

If you have not put an estate plan in place, you are taking a very big risk, and your family members are the ones who will pay the price if you wait until it is too late. When you plan your estate, you make sure that your loved ones will be provided for monetarily after you pass away, but you can also make sure that you are remembered in other ways. Statistics show that most people have not executed all of the appropriate estate planning documents, so this lack of action is a societal …

Surveys are conducted periodically, and they consistently find that most American adults are not appropriately prepared from an estate planning standpoint. One of the reasons for this inaction is the notion that estate planning boils down to the execution of a last will. You can do that when you are a senior citizen, right? This is a gross oversimplification on numerous different levels. First of all, people of all ages pass away, and every responsible adult should have an estate …

You should carefully explore all of your options when you plan your estate. This is one of the reasons why personalized attention is so valuable. When you discuss everything with a licensed estate planning attorney, you can ask questions and gain a full understanding of the possibilities that are out there. With this in mind, we will look at living trusts and the role of the successor trustee in this post. Revocable Living Trusts Some people think that trusts are only used by wealthy …

If you have been able to accumulate a significant store of wealth, you have to concern yourself with death taxes. We have a federal estate tax that can put quite a dent in your financial legacy. There is a federal estate tax credit or exclusion. This is the amount that can be transferred tax-free. Asset transfers that exceed this amount are potentially subject to the estate tax. The federal estate tax exclusion was set at $5 million for the 2011 calendar year. Each year since then there …