There are many benefits to a revocable living trust that are not available in a will.  An individual can choose to have one or both, and an attorney can best clarify the advantages of each.  If the person engaged in planning his or her estate wants to retain the ability to change or rescind the document, the living trust is probably the best option since it is revocable. 

The document is called a “living” trust because it is applicable throughout one's lifetime.  Another individual or entity, such as a bank, can be appointed as trustee to manage and protect assets and to distribute assets to beneficiaries upon one's death.

On Tuesday the Treasury proposed new tax Regulations which will dramatically increase the value of family business interests for gift and estate tax purposes and for family sales.

The Regulations propose eliminating discounts for lack of marketability and lack of control on intra-family transfers of interests in family controlled entities.

The Regulations will be effective when published in final form, which we expect to be early 2017.

To the extent that your plans include passing the family business to the next generation through gifts or sales, it may have significant financial benefit if you complete the transaction this year, before the Regulations become final.

We urge you to contact your professional advisors to determine how these changes will impact your family.

Will - a written document specifying a person’s wishes concerning his or her property distribution upon his or her death.

In order to be enforced by a court of law, a will must be signed in accordance with the applicable wills act.

Testator/Testatrix - the person who signs the will.

Heirs - beneficiaries of an estate.

Executor/Executrix - the individual given authority by the testator to make decisions to put the testator’s written directions into effect.

Before transferring your home to your children, there are several issues that should be considered. Some are tax-related issues and some are none-tax issues that can have grave consequences on your livelihood. 

The first thing to keep in mind is that the current federal estate tax exemption is currently over $5 million and thus it is likely that you may not have an estate tax issue anyway. If you are married you and your spouse can double that exemption to over $10 million. So, make sure the federal estate tax is truly an issue for you before proceeding.

The death of a loved one is a difficult experience no matter the circumstances.  It can be especially difficult when a person dies without a will.  If a person dies without a will and there are assets that need to be distributed, the estate will be subject to the process of administration instead of probate proceedings.

In this case, the decedent’s heirs can select someone to manage the estate, called an administrator instead of executor.  State law will provide who has priority to be appointed as the administrator.

Assembly Bill No.

You spend your whole life building your legacy but sadly, that is not always enough. Without careful estate tax planning, much of it could be lost to taxes or misdirected. While a will or living trust is essential for dividing your estate as you wish, an estate tax plan ensures you pass on as much of your legacy as possible.

Understanding estate tax laws

For the past decade, estate tax laws have been a sort of political football with significant changes occurring every few years.  The good news is that the 2013 tax act made the basic $5 million estate tax exemption “permanent,” but at a higher rate of 40%, though the law continues to adjust the exemption level for inflation.

What You Should Know...

If you or a loved one has been diagnosed with a terminal illness, the decisions ahead may feel overwhelming. Emotional and physical struggles likely compete with legal affairs and the complexity of it all can feel unbearable.

For many Americans, retirement accounts comprise a substantial portion of their wealth. When planning your estate, it is important to consider the ramifications of tax-deferred retirement accounts, such as 401(k) and 403(b) accounts and traditional IRAs. (Roth IRAs are not tax-deferred accounts and are therefore treated differently). One of the primary goals of any estate plan is to pass your assets to your beneficiaries in a way that enables them to pay the lowest possible tax.

Generally, receiving inherited property is not a transaction that is subject to income tax.

So you have credit card debt, overdue mortgage payments, or suddenly need to buy a new car. We’ve all been there. You need money now, and your retirement accounts continue to climb. Fortunately, many employers allow you to take out loans on these accounts, but should you really begin spending that money before you retire?

On one hand, there are benefits to borrowing from your retirement accounts. You are essentially borrowing your own money, so the payments you make, plus interest, go back into your account.

Many parents assume that because their college-age child still lives with them, they would be able to assume guardianship in case of an accident. This couldn’t be further from the truth — college students are adults, and as such have privacy rights that can prevent parents from making important medical decisions or even talking to doctors. Here’s what you need to know.

Understanding Changes

Once a person turns 18, they are viewed as an adult under the eyes of the law. This is true even if they are still living with or financially dependent on their parents.

Charitable giving is growing at a healthy pace, a sign that Americans are a little more confident about the economy and their own finances.

Individuals, corporations and foundations donated $316.2 billion to charitable causes in 2012, a 3.5 percent increase over 2011, according to the annualGiving USA study, which is conducted by the Giving USA Foundation and Indiana University Lilly Family School of Philanthropy.

A Partial Recovery

As encouraging as those numbers are, charitable giving was still below the level it reached before the 2008 financial crisis -- $344.

One of the most important decisions to make in estate planning is the selection of a trustee to administer the trusts upon death or disability

It Takes a Trustee…

A trustee should be experienced, responsible, trustworthy, fair, insightful, intelligent, and resourceful. Now that just may fit a lot of folks.  But for those of us who were selected as trustee because we are the lesser of evils (our siblings being the other evils) this article may be a helpful guide to the task of being a trustee.

For whatever reason, you were chosen to be trustee of your parents’/aunt’s/cousin’s/best friend’s/dentist’s trust.

Now What Do You Do?

1. Take all of the funds from the trust, buy a large yacht, sail to a small island off La Paz and sip margarita’s in the shade of a mango tree for the rest of your life, or

2. Celebrate all your good luck by throwing a clothing optional party for all of your friends at trust expense, or

3. Burn the trust so that one will ever know it even existed, or

4. Get some professional help (financial, accounting and legal not psychiatric).