Passing on assets to your loved ones and even organizations you care about as you pass away is an important factor in the estate planning process. After you pass away, your chosen executor of your will must know what property you have, and your instructions for distributing it. You may accidentally reduce the value of the assets you transfer simply by gifting them outright during your life or after you pass away, so Read More
Tangible Versus Intangible Assets in Your Estate Plan
One of the first steps to take for creating an estate plan is to complete an inventory of all of the assets you own. It's easy to overlook assets as you may not realize how many of them you have that are digital or those that are tangible versus intangible. Common tangible assets in most people's estate plans include vehicles like motorcycles, cars or boats, homes or other real estate, personal possessions or Read More
Recognizing Your Residuary Estate
What happens if you don’t plan for everything in your estate? A will is the most popular estate planning tool because it allows you to determine what happens to your assets and also to name any guardians for your minor children. However, there are some reasons why certain assets may not make it into your will. These become part of what is known as your residuary estate. You may create a residuary estate Read More
Hiring an Estate Planning Attorney After Losing a Spouse
Losing a spouse represents a major change in your life. You might need to work with your estate planning lawyer to update all your documents and ensure that your plan aligns with your needs after losing a spouse. If you have not previously worked with an estate planning attorney, it is strongly recommended that you identify one as soon as possible if your spouse has recently passed away. There are many different Read More
Three Different Approaches to Value Unique Assets
When someone passes away, items in their estate might need to be valued for the purposes of estate taxes or so that an executor can determine fair market value for liquidating them. If you have a unique collection or other assets inside your estate that may be difficult to value at the time you pass away, it's important to do some advanced planning and potentially work with an experienced lawyer to come up with a Read More
Leaving Your House to Loved Ones? Be Careful of the Strategy
One of the biggest assets inside your estate is likely any real estate like your personal home. But if you are not careful with determining how to transfer this to the next generation, they could end up owing money. If a person who inherits a home doesn't want to keep ownership of it and maintain it, they could face taxes, fees and transaction costs. Certain states have estate tax exemption limits that are far below Read More
Estate Planning: What Is a Step Up in Basis?
Passing on assets to your loved ones is a very common goal in estate planning. It involves many different assets that you could pass on outright to your loved ones through beneficiary designation forms, such as on a life insurance policy or retirement account or through strategies like trusts. If you are passing on assets outside of retirement accounts, be aware that these could be impacted by a step up in basis. A Read More
Advantages of Using a Revocable Living Trust for Asset Transfer
There are many different advantages to using a revocable living trust as part of your estate planning. If an accident or an illness leaves you incapacitated but still alive, your successor trustee is able to handle your financial affairs without the need for appointing a conservator or a guardian by the court. Another major benefit to using a revocable living trust is that if the beneficiaries of your trust are Read More
How Do Assets in Multiple States Affect Your Estate Planning?
Geographic borders might seem like not that big of a deal when you can easily drive or fly from one state to another, but when it comes to the distribution of your assets after you pass away, geographic borders matter. If you have a loved one who owned property in more than one state, probate administration in each state might be required which is extremely important if you are appointed as the personal Read More
What Does It Mean to Say an Account Is “Transfer on Death?”
A transfer on death designation allows beneficiaries to receive assets at the time an individual passes away rather than waiting for the entire estate to go through probate. This also lets the security or account holder specify the specific percentage of assets that every beneficiary will receive. This is very helpful for an executor to distribute a person's assets after the creator passes away. Transfer on death Read More
