If your beneficiary is no longer, what happens to your inheritance? You may be wondering whether if you leave property to your brother Jim, but he dies before you, would his kids inherit the property in his place? The answer is, only if your will explicitly states as much.
Why Your Estate Planning Attorney and Tax Advisor Need to talk
Grandparents who took out student loans to help children or grandchildren – or adults who borrowed to pay for education after being displaced during the recession are now faced with the possibility of dying with the loans still unpaid. Some loans will be discharged on death; for others, life insurance can fund the repayments.
Estate Planning and Undue Influence Over a Will-maker
When people, family members, become quite elderly or ill, they also become susceptible to manipulation from those who will defraud or steal. Often, family members do not find out about a change in estate plan until after their loved one has died. Most often, a manipulator will seek to keep last-minute changes of inheritance quiet.
It’s Not That Easy Being an Estate Executor
It’s not easy being an estate executor. Learn what the duties are for this job – and how to make it easier for the executor of YOUr estate to do that job…
It Is Not Always Better to Give Than to Receive
If there is a possibility that a loved one might need Medicaid assistance in the foreseeable future, that person should not be giving gifts. This can be sad if that person gets joy out of generosity. But gifts in that situation can turn out to be very, very expensive.
Why an Irrevocable Trust May Be Superior to Gifting
Parents and other family members who want to pass on assets during their lifetimes may be tempted to gift the assets. Although setting up an irrevocable trust lacks the simplicity of giving a gift, it may be a better way to preserve assets for the future.
Frontloading an Estate Plan with 529 Contributions
Clients can make five years’ worth of gifts to a 529 education plan for a child or grandchild, claiming a federal gift tax exclusion for the full amount. There are at least four reasons clients might want to do this:
Dealing WIth the Widow or Widower’s Tax
“Many couples don’t foresee the possible financial hit if one partner dies, including the tax crunch sometimes called the ‘widow’s tax’,” Jeff Stimpson writes in Financial Advisor, referring to potential tax and cash flow problems faced by women and men after the loss...
In Estate Planning, Consider Not Only the “What”, But the “Where”
The general principles of estate planning are the same in every U.S. state, but each state has different tax laws and different regulations affecting wills and powers of attorney.
Equal is Equitable, Most of the Time
When it comes to deciding how to leave property to your children, the clearest choice is to divide everything into equal shares. That is the straightforward choice when all your children are doing equally well. But if not – if, for example, your son is a starving...
