Life insurance is included in the taxable estate typically. A trust is a great way to remove the value of life insurance from the taxable estate. But there are two potential traps in this. The prior article examined the first trap, the three-year lookback of Section 2035. This article will examine how the Transfer for Value rule can make life insurance taxable. Read on to learn more about how to avoid the income taxation of life insurance. Read on to learn more … [Read more...] about Removing Life Insurance Without Triggering the Transfer for Value Rule
Estate Planning
Removing Life Insurance from the Taxable Estate
Life insurance is included in the taxable estate typically. A trust is a great way to remove the value of life insurance from the estate. But, there are two potential traps in this. Read on to learn more … [Read more...] about Removing Life Insurance from the Taxable Estate
Can I Fund My Own Special Needs Trust?
It is important to choose the right estate planning device for each person on your inheritance list. There are many different tools in the estate planning toolkit, and so you should discuss your options with a licensed estate planning attorney if you are not sure how to proceed. With this in mind, let’s look at inheritance planning for people with disabilities. Need-Based Government Benefits Obviously, people with disabilities need health insurance, but many people that are in this position … [Read more...] about Can I Fund My Own Special Needs Trust?
Address Possible Estate Challenges
When a last will is used to transfer assets, the process of probate will be a major factor. In a will, you would name an executor, and this individual would act as the estate administrator. They would be required to admit the will to probate, and the court would provide supervision. The probate court is responsible for determining the validity of the will that is submitted. Because of this, anyone that wants to come forward to contest the validity of the will could do so during … [Read more...] about Address Possible Estate Challenges
Five Key Facts About Probate
Probate is the legal process of estate administration. If you use a will, you would name an executor to carry out your final wishes, and the probate court would provide supervision. This court would also be involved if you were to pass away without any estate planning documents at all. In some instances, a child or an incapacitated adult will need a guardian. This is another matter that would be handled by the probate court. In this post, we will look at five things you should know about … [Read more...] about Five Key Facts About Probate
An Irrevocable Trust Can Satisfy These Three Objectives
When you learn that there are revocable trusts and trusts that you cannot revoke, you may wonder why you would sacrifice the flexibility. This makes sense on the surface, but there are some good reasons why this can be beneficial. In legal parlance, you surrender incidents of ownership when you establish an irrevocable trust, because you cannot act as the trustee, and you cannot revoke the trust. To put it more simply, you get the assets out of your own name by conveying them into the … [Read more...] about An Irrevocable Trust Can Satisfy These Three Objectives
Buy-Sell Agreements for Small Business Succession
One of the reasons why it is wise to connect with an estate planning attorney is because solutions exist to address situations. A lot of people think that they have to somehow twist their objectives around some limited device like a simple will, but this is not the case. With this in mind, let’s take a look at estate and succession planning for small business partners. Buy-Sell Agreements The best way to explain this approach is to use a hypothetical scenario. As we go through it, we will … [Read more...] about Buy-Sell Agreements for Small Business Succession
Don’t Let the State Plan Your Estate
The vast majority of people do not have estate plans in place, and strangely enough, this includes people that are between 35 and 55 years of age. Most of the same folks have financial plans and they would tell you that their families are more important to them than anything. At the same time, they do nothing to prepare for their twilight years with an eye on the legacies that they will be leaving to their loved ones. And of course, when it comes to protecting your family, people pass away … [Read more...] about Don’t Let the State Plan Your Estate
Estate Planning Simplified
Studies are conducted on an annual basis to gauge the estate planning preparedness of American adults. Though passing away is one of the two certainties of life as the saying goes, the vast majority of people in our country are going through life without any type of estate planning documents at all. There are different reasons why they fail to take action, but one of them is the simple fact that they do not know how to begin. The process seems a bit overwhelming, so they resolve to do it … [Read more...] about Estate Planning Simplified
Inheritance Tax vs. Estate Tax: Is There a Difference?
People are often confused about the way that inheritances can be taxed. If you have heard the terms “estate tax” and “inheritance tax,” you may assume these are two different ways of describing the same thing. There are also those that think that the terms refer to the requirement to report inheritances as income when you file your regular tax returns. In reality, all of the above assumptions are mistaken, and we will provide clarity in this post. Income Taxes and Capital Gains … [Read more...] about Inheritance Tax vs. Estate Tax: Is There a Difference?
