Since we’re all going to die (yes, even those of us who are still in our 20s!), we might as well make things easier for the loved ones who, along with grieving our loss, will have to deal with the financial and logistical pieces of our lives.
In this article, we will address two terms which some people use interchangeably, but which are very different things: living trusts and estate plans.
As soon as you are an adult, you should have an estate plan in place.
When you set up your estate plan it is important to coordinate the legal planning documents that you or you and your attorney create with the document provided by your retirement account custodian and/or your life insurance carrier called a ‘Designation of Beneficiary.’
Some people draft wills or trusts to ensure that the loved ones they will eventually leave behind own a piece of the properties the former will be leaving behind in case of their death.
Completing an estate inventory can be one of the most challenging aspects of being the executor of an estate.
One of the most important decisions you’ll have to make when creating an estate plan is which estate planning law firm to work with.
While it’s never fun or pleasant to think about what will happen to them if the worst should happen to us, it’s very important to consider how we can ensure that they are well cared-for when and if we are no longer able to care for them ourselves.
Who’s going to inherit on the death of one of the re-marrieds? Will this be the surviving spouse? If so, where will those inherited monies go on the second-to-die’s death?
When it comes to owning property in two different states, you may wonder how to manage these in your estate plans.
My dad is investing in cryptocurrency! I know nothing about it and, frankly, I am not interested in learning. I think it is a passing fad. When he dies and I am responsible for the distribution of his estate to my siblings, do I need to address the crypto?
Leaving behind a huge tax bill for your heirs with the stretch IRA scuttled? Here are some ways around it as lawmakers consider an updated SECURE Act.
In order to give your brother half of the assets in the IRA, you will have to liquidate a portion of the account and pay the taxes on the liquidated amount if it’s a traditional IRA.
Once more hesitant to plan ahead, clients in today’s environment are much more proactive and willing to take action in the near term, rather than waiting and risking having to pay higher taxes down the line.
My mother passed, and she was an administrator of my grandfather’s estate and the inheritances. The estate accumulated quite a bit of back taxes over the years. Will the IRS put a lien on that estate as well as hers to retrieve funds?
Adult children typically don’t have to pay their parents’ bills. However, there are exceptions. Even when a child doesn’t have to pay directly, debt could reduce what they inherit.
The ‘HEMS’ (health, education, maintenance, support) standard in estate planning is used to guide trustees in how/when they should release funds to a beneficiary.
Executors can use additional information in administering estates, especially if the executor is unrelated to the decedent.
Non-probate assets are those assets which do not go into an estate when the owner dies.
