Estate Planning Blog

A recent survey estimated that 68% of people die without a will. The consequences of dying without a will (‘intestate’) can be disastrous.

Homes are illiquid assets that produce no income and come with ongoing costs for upkeep. Those issues can cause some snags with your trust.

Roth individual retirement accounts allow you to pay income tax on your retirement savings upfront, so you won’t be stuck with a tax bill in retirement when you can least afford to pay it.

These vehicles let a family manage multiple interests, preserve parental control and protect assets from claims of creditors and divorcing spouses, among other benefits.

What is an unsupervised administration and why is it better than other types?

Dealing with the loss of a loved one is never easy. When inheritances, homes, estates and mortgages are involved, tensions can run high within a family. It is easy to get lost in the paperwork and terms.

Frequent triggers also include changes in the health of executors and guardians; changes in laws, which may impact tax and legal strategies; and changes in state residence, which can also impact planning.

For most families, the estate planning process is more involved than simply naming beneficiaries. While the primary goal of estate planning is transferring assets in an orderly and tax-efficient manner, it’s just as important to focus on preserving wealth across generations.

Your dad bequeathed you a generous sum of money on his passing. Those gifted and inherited assets, in many instances, will be considered ‘separate property,’ not marital property. That might mean that they might not be subject to division, if you divorce. However, perhaps you want to backstop that hoped for result to make the protection more likely to stick if your marriage doesn’t work out.

In presentations regarding essential actions individuals should take regarding inheritance, emphasis is usually placed on drafting a will. This leaves unanswered what happens to assets that do not pass by will —so called non-probate assets.