Typically, an estate plan includes accommodations for your spouse, children, grandchildren, and even future generations. However, you may overlook some older family members, such as your parents or in-laws. They also may need your financial assistance and help with their estate planning. How can you best...
There are two trust types that do not require one or more human beneficiaries: charitable trusts and noncharitable purpose (NCP) trusts. A charitable trust is the more common of the two, but an NCP trust also could be a formidable tool to help achieve your...
If you are going through a divorce, you probably feel overwhelmed by all the legal and financial items you must attend to before the marriage termination is final. These tasks can be difficult, but revising your estate plan does not have to be. What The Law...
You may think of trusts as estate planning tools — vehicles for reducing taxes after your death. While trusts can certainly fill that role, they also are useful for protecting assets, both now and later. After all, the better protected your assets are, the more...
You may have good intentions in keeping a trust a secret from its beneficiaries. Perhaps you have concerns that, if your children or other beneficiaries know about the trust, they might set aside educational or career pursuits. Be aware, however, that the law in many...
Some of the most effective estate planning strategies involve setting up irrevocable trusts. For a trust to be deemed irrevocable, you, the grantor, lose all incidents of ownership of the trust’s assets. In other words, you are effectively removing those assets from your taxable estate. But...
You may have several different types of trusts in your estate plan. In general, to achieve the greatest tax savings, these trusts must be irrevocable, thus requiring you to give up control over the trust assets. Even though you appoint a trustee to oversee distribution of...
Payable-on-death (POD) accounts provide a quick, simple, and inexpensive way to transfer assets outside of probate. They can be used for bank accounts, certificates of deposit, or even brokerage accounts. Setting one up is as easy as providing the bank with a signed POD beneficiary...
No one said estate planning is easy, and this is especially true if you have a ‘blended family.’ The good news is that there are two trust types — a qualified terminable interest property (QTIP) trust and an irrevocable life insurance trust (ILIT) — that...
Life insurance can be a powerful financial and estate planning tool, but its benefits can be reduced or even eliminated if you designate the wrong beneficiary or fail to change beneficiaries when your circumstances change. Common pitfalls to avoid include: Naming your estate as beneficiary. Doing...