If you have a younger heir on your inheritance list that has not yet attended college you may want to consider starting a 529 college savings plan for the benefit of this individual. Anyone could consider doing this, but it has particular value for those who have assets that exceed the estate tax exclusion amount. At the present time the estate tax exclusion sits at $5.25 million. Anything above this is potentially subject to a federal estate tax that tops out at 40%. You could give gifts …
Estate Planning Benefits of Roth IRA
Intelligent estate planning will involve looking at a holistic picture. It is not always as simple as drawing up a last will that splits up a pie made of liquidity. The wise course of action is to discuss everything with a licensed estate planning attorney who can evaluate your situation and make informed recommendations. With this in mind we would like to examine the estate planning benefits of a Roth individual retirement account. Because this is technically a retirement account you may …
Future Incapacity May Be More Likely Than You Think
Possible future incapacity is something to take seriously when you are looking forward toward the latter portion of your life. Incapacity could strike due to many different medical scenarios as we all know. In spite of this fact of life you may feel as though it is unlikely that you will ever become incapacitated even though you know that it is possible. In fact, the existence of Alzheimer's disease alone makes incapacity planning absolutely essential for everyone. One out of every eight …
Wealthy New York Holocaust Survivor Died Intestate
The New York Times is running an interesting story about a wealthy Holocaust survivor who died intestate. Though there are some conflicting reports about his history, Roman Blum was said to be 97 years of age when he passed away in January of 2012. His assets are estimated to be valued in the vicinity of $40 million. As it turns out Blum, a former real estate developer, didn't leave behind any estate planning documents so he passed away intestate. Under the laws of the state your closest …
Life Insurance Can Be Estate Planning Solution
The process of estate planning can involve some tricky situations, and life insurance can sometimes be the solution. One such situation would be the matter of small business succession planning for business partners. Let's say that you have one partner in the business. If this partner was to pass away he or she is logically going to leave his or her share in the business to his or her family. For the purposes of our example no one in the family is capable of or interested in taking over …
Special Military Pension Can Assist Senior Veterans
Many people are not aware of the existence of the Veterans Aid and Attendance special pension. This pension is different from the military retirement pension that service members become eligible for after 20 years of service. This benefit is designed to help veterans pay for living assistance. Many people ultimately need help with their day-to-day needs at some point in time and residence in an assisted living facility is very expensive. Even in-home care can cost a good bit of …
Do You Have Questions About Charities?
Charitable giving can be a meaningful part of your estate plan if you are in a position to spread some resources around among worthy causes. When you discuss the matter with your estate planning lawyer you will hear about various different devices that can be used to facilitate charitable giving. One of these would be a charitable remainder unitrust. With these trusts you receive income throughout the duration of the trust term, and at the conclusion of the term a charitable beneficiary that …
DO YOU HAVE QUESTIONS ABOUT CHARITIES?
Charitable giving can be a meaningful part of your estate plan if you are in a position to spread some resources around among worthy causes. When you discuss the matter with your estate planning lawyer you will hear about various different devices that can be used to facilitate charitable giving. One of these would be a charitable remainder unitrust. With these trusts you receive income throughout the duration of the trust term, and at the conclusion of the term a charitable beneficiary that …
Affluent Gay Couples Could Benefit From Supreme Court Decision
In the state of New York we have an estate tax on the state level. There is a $1 million exclusion on asset transfers, so only the first $1 million that you leave behind to your loved ones can pass tax-free. The above is true for everyone except married couples. If you are legally married you can leave any amount of money to your spouse tax-free utilizing the unlimited marital exemption. Because gay marriages are legal in New York this applies to same-sex couples who are legally married as …
Google Helps Users Prepare for Digital Afterlife
You have to consider your digital afterlife when you are planning your estate in the 21st-century. Just about everyone uses the Internet, and invariably you're going to have to address how your online accounts should be handled after you pass away. The digital afterlife is an interesting concept. It would be possible to leave behind quite a legacy online, and it would also be quite possible to have much of the information that you have created that exists in cyberspace deleted. Exactly how …
Three Often Overlooked Estate Plan Components
When you are planning your estate the eventual distribution of your financial resources to your heirs is probably going to be foremost on your mind, and rightly so. However, there are some other components that your estate plan should contain, and we would like to highlight three of them that are often overlooked. 1.) Durable Powers of Attorney Alzheimer's disease alone makes incapacity planning a must. Upwards of 45% of people who are at least 85 years old have Alzheimer's, and this is …
Intentionally Defective Grantor Trusts Remain Popular
There are some types of trusts used in the estate planning field that can be quite a mouthful to say out loud, and as a result a lot of acronyms are utilized. One of these is "IDGT," and it stands for an intentionally defective grantor trust. What is going to stand out the most to people when they hear about these trusts is the term "defective." It can be hard to understand why anyone would want to create anything that is intentionally defective given the literal definition of the …
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