Good estate planning must consider more than what you want to happen to your property and for your beneficiaries. It also must consider what you intentionally want to avoid happening.
Both help you pass down assets, while avoiding the time and expense of probate. However, one has much more flexibility than the other.
There are many ways to pass property on to children, including gifting the family home to them while you are still alive, bequeathing it to the children upon your passing, or selling the residence to your heirs.
Tax obligations continue on despite the passing of a loved one, and in some cases, come about because of it. Tax deadlines pose a challenge for grieving families.
Should the Royal family be an exception to the normal laws governing probate?
Losing your spouse is a painful, confusing time, but add to that repeated calls from an aggressive debt collector and a bad situation suddenly can get even worse.
Even those who have saved and invested well may not be sharing their financial information with a spouse or loved one. It’s time to do that now.
Taxpayers should, of course, carefully consider whether to engage in a lifetime gifting strategy, which has other considerations beyond just estate taxes (such as the tradeoff with the ‘step‑up’ in basis, and non-tax family related considerations).
What happens if you are named an heir in an estate but you don’t want it? Does it go the person’s children if you reject the inheritance?
Every estate plan should include three essential documents: a durable general power of attorney, a healthcare power of attorney and a last will and testament. Of the three essential estate planning documents, the will is the only document that is used after death.