Few people will disagree with the need to have a current plan and to provide for survivors, but not everyone acts. Read this post to see why you may be resisting and why you should review your estate plan. For example, did you address your digital assets? Continue reading
Whether you’re updating an existing plan or starting from scratch, this overview presents the key issues to consider when designing and executing the best estate plan. The work does not stop at signing your estate plan documents, you must also complete the follow up work of beneficiary designations, memorandum to fiduciaries, etc. (Note: the biggest issues we see are: (1) that no plan has been done; (2) that wills and trusts are in place but the asset ownership and beneficiary designations frustrate the plan by having assets pass to the spouse and not the trust; or (3) that a plan is in place, but it is stale and does not reflect the current needs and wishes of the client. If you do nothing else after reading this, write and deliver a “Memorandum to Survivors” and review asset ownership, all as described at the end of this post. Continue reading
The estate tax law will revert to much lower credit amounts, no portablility of credits and a lower generation skipping tax if Congress does not act. This means you need to plan now to use the $5 million gift and estate tax credit. Contact us or your estate tax advisor to discuss which actions to take. Continue reading
Elections you have to have made at the first death for the new portable credit Continue reading
There are special techniques for large estates that use the two year window of the new tax law for leveraging wealth transfers to future generations, from gifting to dynasty trusts, GRAT, QPRT, FLP, and second-to-die life insurance in an irrevocalbe trust. However, be sure that you can afford to make an irrevocable change in your finances and pick your strategy with great care. Continue reading