When little things mean a lot: Estate planning for personal property Personal items — which may have modest monetary value but significant sentimental value — may be more difficult to address in an estate plan than…
What does a trustee do? Your estate plan may include several different trusts. The reason is that various types of trusts can accomplish a myriad of estate planning goals. Thus, it’s critical to understand the role…
The GST tax and your estate plan: What you need to know Here’s a not-so-fun fact: The generation-skipping transfer (GST) tax is among the harshest and most complex in the tax code. So, if you’re planning…
Protect your assets with a “hybrid” DAPT One benefit of the current federal gift and estate tax exemption amount ($11.7 million in 2021) is that it allows most people to focus their estate planning efforts on…
Not disclosing all of your assets helps no one People sometimes keep assets hidden without letting their families know about their location or even that they exist. Similarly, they may have life insurance policies no one…
Estates now have an additional three years to file for a portability election Portability allows a surviving spouse to apply a deceased spouse’s unused federal gift and estate tax exemption amount toward his or her own…
Estate planning in the FAST lane Traditionally, estate planning has focused on more technical objectives, such as minimizing gift and estate taxes and protecting assets against creditors’ claims or lawsuits. These goals are still important, but…
Dissecting the contents of a will For many people, the first thing they think of when they hear the words “estate plan” is a will. And for good reason, as it’s the cornerstone of any estate…
Consider your options when addressing life insurance in your estate plan Life insurance has long provided a source of liquidity to pay estate taxes and other expenses. Even though for many families, federal and state estate…
Careful planning required for beneficiaries to borrow from a trust Intrafamily loans allow you to provide financial assistance to loved ones — often at favorable terms — while potentially reducing gift and estate taxes. But what…