The Forbes 400- An Estate Planning Nightmare! The Forbes 400 has been around since 1982 and has become a wonderful resource guide to the wealthy families throughout the United States and abroad. However, a deeper analysis of the Forbes 400 lays out a spectacularly eclectic grouping of some of the most sophisticated and unsophisticated estate plans in the world! [...]
Inheritance is the practice of passing on property, titles, debts, rights, and obligations upon the death of an individual. The rules of inheritance differ among societies and have changed over time. In law, an heir is a person who is entitled to receive a share of the deceased's (the person who died) property, subject to the rules of inheritance in the jurisdiction of which the deceased was a citizen or where the deceased (decedent) [...]
Every responsible financial planner needs to educate himself/herself with the answers to one of the most important insurance decisions their clients will consider this decade: Do I really need to purchase long term medical insurance? Richard Eisenberg from Next Avenue wrote a tremendously resourceful article about these issues in his article: “Long Term Care: What does the Future Hold?” [...]
A will or testament is a legal document by which a person, the testator, expresses their wishes as to how their property is to be distributed at death, and names one or more persons, the executor, to manage the estate until its final distribution. For the devolution of property not disposed of by will, see inheritance and intestacy. Though it has at times been thought that a "will" was historically [...]
A trust is a three-party fiduciary relationship in which the first party, the trustor or settlor, transfers ("settles") a property (often but not necessarily a sum of money) upon the second party (the trustee) for the benefit of the third party, the beneficiary.[1] A testamentary trust is created by a will and arises after the death of the settlor. An inter vivos trust is created during the settlor's lifetime by a [...]
In his article “How to Lower Your Estate Tax Liability on the Federal and State Levels” attorney Asher Rubinstein points out that in early 2013, Congress clarified the estate tax landscape and made permanent certain provisions of estate tax law, such as the exemption from estate tax for the first $5.45 million of one’s estate, indexed annually for inflation. [...]
So it is unlikely anything will happen to you (and or your spouse) but you can make sure your kids have a contingency plan my naming a guardian for your kids in a last will and testament or related legal document. In an excellent article by Claire Zulkey, she points out the main issues and why you need to [...]
If you want to sell appreciated assets and avoid paying capital gains taxes you need to read the following article by By Andrew L. Whitehair, CPA/PFS in Taxation of Estates and Trusts. Estates, Trusts & Gifts With more assets held in trust and higher marginal tax rates, many clients and advisers are now considering distributions from trusts to beneficiaries [...]
DO YOU WANT TO GET TAX DEFERRED APPRECIATION, PROBATE AVOIDANCE AND ASSET PROTECTION IN ONE? CHECK OUT AN ANNUITY. IF SO, YOU SHOULD READ THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE FROM the ALLIANCE FOR LIFETIME INCOME: CLOSE TO 10,000 PEOPLE turn 65 every day, many of them not sure whether they’ll outlive their money in retirement. That’s because the majority of young baby [...]
Creating your Estate Plan is really only the beginning of providing assurances to your kids that your assets won’t be depleted by the courts, the lawyers and the doctors. In an article “Are you having the Right Estate Planning Conversations with Your Family?” Rianka Dorsainvil offered plenty of advice about the importance of family communications with family. This time [...]
