Learn why blended families have a unique advantage when it comes to estate planning in this interview with attorney Patricia Annino.
Clients often expend significant time and financial resources to put a will and overall estate plan in place. Despite these efforts, a small percentage of wills may be contested.
An experienced estate planning team can help recognize risks for a will contest, implement strategies to minimize incentives for potential challengers, and reduce a challenger’s likelihood of success.
Read this article to learn about strategies people can consider to help avoid a successful will contest.
SMRU 1862636 exp. 10/11/2021
Kristen E. Simmons, an attorney with Oshins & Associates, provides her insight on how decanting an irrevocable trust can be a useful way to address concerns clients may have that can delay completion of their estate or insurance planning. Simmons looks at the common reasons client will decant a trust and provides a checklist for advisors to use when determining whether a trust can be decanted.
Much has been written about the CARES Act and its effects on business owners. This article, part 1 of a 2-part overview, looks at the individual tax benefits under the CARES Act, including changes involving tax-advantaged health accounts and charitable deductions, a refundable tax credit, and suspension of required minimum distributions.
Deena and Dave have loved their local dinosaur museum for many, many years. So much so, that they donate to the dinosaur museum every year. But when it came time to figuring out the best tax strategies for charitable giving, they thought it would be as confusing as spelling brachiosaurus. Watch this video to learn about the three places your money can go when you pass away – your beneficiaries, the government, or to your favorite charities.
There are a lot of issues to consider with a revocable trust—like remaining unfunded, assets, and trustees. Funding your revocable trust is the only way to ensure that it accomplishes your goals.
With the overwhelming amount of information we share online, there are things you may want to do to help secure your privacy for years to come.
Over the past decade, we have seen an increasing volume of documents—from contracts to tax returns to books and photos—being created and stored only in electronic form. So, are electronically executed and stored estate planning documents on the way? This article discusses some of the issues surrounding electronic wills and legislation in the area.
Every state has legislation authorizing the use of some form of advance health care directive—a power of attorney, a living will, or both. This article reviews the ways a person can make his or her desires known to family, medical professionals, and others regarding his or her medical care, and avoid time consuming probate or being subject to arbitrary statutes imposed by the state.
Jeff Chadwick, a member of the Wealth Preservation Practice Group at Winstead PC, offers this broad overview of lifetime gifting strategies, focusing on the 99.8% of Americans without taxable estates. Advisors working with these clients should identify their non-tax objectives and focus their planning on minimizing income tax and reporting obligations.
No one can anticipate all the future changes in their family dynamics and personal finances, much less the applicable tax laws, but there is one tool you can implement that will incorporate flexibility into your estate plan – powers of appointment. Learn how the use of powers of appointment could position your beneficiaries to avoid unintended distribution of your estate and help you capitalize on tax law changes.
The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act provided significant estate planning and gifting opportunities, but the window to seize those opportunities will close at the end of 2025 if the sunset provision in the TCJA remains in place. Learn strategies to consider in order to negate or greatly reduce potential estate taxes, and why the time to start implementing these strategies is now.
The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 was the most pervasive tax legislation signed into law since the Tax Reform Act of 1986. What led up to that moment? In an easily accessible two-page timeline, we explore 220 years of groundbreaking estate tax history.
Parents, are you wondering if now is the right time to tell your children about their expected inheritance? Watch this video to learn attorney and estate planning authority Patricia Annino’s recommendation.
In this ever-changing tax environment, preserving flexibility should be a key component of any estate plan. Read this article to understand how traditional estate planning strategies can still provide a simple yet flexible way to protect and preserve assets for future generations.
Estate planning for larger estates (typically above $10 million for a married couple) generally includes various key components. Read this article featuring CPA Robert Keebler to learn more.
Blended families have a unique advantage when it comes to estate planning. To learn why the experience of becoming a blended family makes it easier to have discussions about planning, read this article featuring attorney Patricia Annino.
