24-7 Press Release: Estate planning is not only for the super-rich, or even just moderately wealthy individuals. Wills, medical directives and trusts accomplish many things. Whether you need to set up a guardianship for your children or obtain peace of mind for future health care decisions in the event you are incapacitated, estate planning is now a versatile and straightforward way to manage end-of-life planning.
Investopedia: Trusts are commonly used by attorneys and financial advisors during the estate planning process. They aid in the distribution of assets, ensuring that everything goes to the correct people and entities. They can also minimize estate taxes. Essentially, they allow you to remove assets from your personal estate so that more wealth can be passed to your beneficiaries. You can even place a life insurance policy within a trust.
Boom! Boomers & Beyond: Where there’s a will . . . there are relatives. This truth, proved time and again in probate proceedings and will contests, holds a clear lesson: Good estate planning is about more than taxes. It requires careful consideration of who should receive your assets, and how and when they should receive them, as well as a clear statement of your wishes and expectations.
Online Athens: The new estate tax laws have provided a false sense of security for those of us who do not have an estate worth more than $10 million. However, in 2013 we are going to be revisiting the issue of estate taxes all over again as the law sunsets back to the $1 million estate tax exemption. The sunset provision makes the estate tax law an average taxpayer's problem again.
Since life insurance benefits often are the largest asset in an estate, I would like to address the great myth about the taxation of life insurance benefits.
Estate of Denial: Peter Falk set up a trust years before he was formally diagnosed with Alzheimers disease, and the bulk of his multi-million dollar estate is being left to his devoted loving wife of more than thirty three years, RadarOnline.com is exclusively reporting.
The Columbo star passed away at his home in Beverly Hills on Thursday night, and his wife was at his side when he died.
Sun Herald.com: Who gets Mom's wedding ring? When siblings look at what a parent leaves behind as their inheritance, it's not always easy to sort out who gets what.
Washington Times: You don’t have to be Leona Helmsley to want the best for your pet after you die.
Helmsley left her dog, Trouble, $12 million when she passed away in 2007. A judge cut the award to $2 million and awarded some of the money to her grandchildren, but the Maltese still lived a life of luxury until his death in December. The dog’s death was announced this month by the Helmsley trust.
Pet estate planning has grown since Helmsley’s will made headlines. Today, there are retirement homes for pets across the country, and at least 45 states allow for pet trusts. A pet trust is an agreement that specifies how an owner wants a pet to be cared for, including details on who will be responsible for the animal and how the care will be paid for.
24-7 Press Release.com: It is true that trusts are invaluable tools for those with a large amount of assets. Trusts can help to avoid estate and gift taxes; they can put conditions on the money in the trust fund to prevent large amounts of money being available to someone too young to manage it wisely. Trusts can also be a great tool for charitable donations. However, trusts are no longer just the overly complicated tools of the wealthy. From taking care of assets that are difficult to liquidate, such as real estate or a business, to providing for a child with special needs, trusts are a straightforward tool that many people should discuss with an estate planning lawyer.
Barron's: Trustees commit the same mistakes when managing trust assets. These mistakes can subject the trustee to liability from the beneficiaries of the trust. This article lists five common mistakes made by trustees and provides tips on how trustees can avoid making these mistakes.