We are all aware of the fact that grandparents and grandchildren often share a very special relationship. When you are planning your estate, making provisions for your grandchildren may well be a priority. Of course you are going to want to do as much as possible for them, so the last thing that you would want to see is the estate tax lopping off a large portion of your legacy, resources that could have otherwise gone to your grandchildren and the rest of the people in your inheritance list.If … [Read more...]
Two Valuable Ways To Use Life Insurance
Life insurance is the quintessential income replacement vehicle, and it is a very important component to most estate plans. Making sure that you have adequate life insurance coverage is a way to protect family members that are relying on your income to maintain their standard of living. This is something for people of all ages to take seriously because you never know what the future holds, and it is certainly much better to be safe than sorry.But in addition to its value as a vehicle of income … [Read more...]
Estate Planning & Your Social Network Accounts
Just about everyone is online at this point, and conducting business and socializing over the Internet has become a routine matter of course. Given this reality it is important to recognize the fact that you are going to have to make your estate administrator aware of your online accounts and leave instructions with regard to how you would like them to be handled.There are of course financial accounts that would be part of this equation. Many people pay their bills online and paperless billing … [Read more...]
Why Retain An Estate Planning Lawyer?
If you start to develop an interest in planning for the future and you are like most people you will probably start do some research on the Internet. When you do you will invariably come across websites making the claim that estate planning is something that you can easily do by yourself. They will sell you a do-it-yourself estate planning kit and all you have to do is fill in the blanks and you'll be good to go.When you see these claims being made it is a good idea to take pause and apply … [Read more...]
Brit Cowell Embraces Cryonic Solution
When you are planning your estate you do indeed need to prepare your assets for eventual transfer to your loved ones after your death. And, you need to to do it without losing anything in the process, and this is something that is easier said than done in many cases.This is why it is important to retain the services of an experienced estate planning attorney who understands the tactics that can be employed to preserve your wealth and enable your legacy to be passed to your heirs intact for the … [Read more...]
Proactive Estate Planning
Estate planning does indeed involve making preparations for the distribution of your material assets to your loved ones after you pass away. But when you look at the broader picture there is more to it than that. Of course it is very possible that there will be a period of time preceding your death when you're not in the best of health and possibly incapable of making your own medical, financial, and personal decisions. If you want to be comprehensively prepared you need to plan for this … [Read more...]
Basic Estate Plan A Necessity For All
It is really surprising when you see the statistics regarding how prepared people are for the future. There was a Harris interactive survey conducted back in 2009 that shed some light on the subject. Only 35% of the people that they communicated with had executed a last will, and a paltry 29% had signed a living will. This is really unacceptable because you are putting your family at risk when you go through life without an estate plan.The survey indicated that people are often deterred from … [Read more...]
Who Is Exposed To Estate Tax?
The debate surrounding the legitimacy of the estate tax is rather one sided from a logical perspective. Those who are against it correctly assert that it is an exercise in double taxation. They also suggest that the rate, which has variably come in at between 35% and 55% during recent years, is extreme.The argument in favor of the tax would appear to be far less substantive to some. It seems to revolve around the idea that we should "tax the rich." Period. So there are those who are under the … [Read more...]
Charitable Giving, Taxes, & CRUTs
One of the primary objectives of estate planning for many individuals is to gain estate tax efficiency, and there are a number of legal instruments that can be utilized to provide this. The best way to proceed depends on the exact nature of your assets and what your overall intentions may be. Many people who are seeking estate tax efficiency also have an interest in giving something to charitable causes as a part of their legacy, and there are some vehicles of charitable giving that can … [Read more...]
The Plan That Is Right For You
A lot of individuals think of a last Will when they hear the subject of estate planning mentioned. However, utilizing a last Will as your sole vehicle of asset transfer may not be the best choice and when you are making preparations for the future there are other things to consider beyond the transfer of financial assets.In fact, there are many different legal instruments utilized in the field of estate planning and the right combination is going to vary depending on the specifics of each … [Read more...]
