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Estate Planning, when done correctly, should above all else provide you with the peace of mind that comes from knowing you have done everything possible to protect yourself and your family. It does this by first helping you accomplish all of your personal planning goals. Once these individual needs are addressed, good estate planning next benefits your family by eliminating unnecessary probate costs, guardianship hearings, and death taxes.
Through creative, highly sophisticated wealth preservation and management strategies, we can help make certain your golden years are spent in comfort; your loved ones are well taken care of, and that your enduring legacy is assured. Our primary interest is to alleviate all of your concerns.
Providing for Incapacity
If you become incapacitated, you won’t be able to manage your own financial affairs. Many are under the mistaken impression that their spouse or adult children can automatically take over for them in case they become incapacitated. The truth is that in order for others to be able to manage your finances, they must petition a court to declare you legally incompetent. This process can be lengthy, costly and stressful. Even if the court appoints the person you would have chosen, they may have to come back to the court every year and show how they are spending and investing each and every penny. If you want your family to be able to immediately take over for you, you must designate a person or persons that you trust in proper legal documents so that they will have the authority to withdraw money from your accounts, pay bills, take distributions from your IRAs, sell stocks, and refinance your home. A will does not take effect until you die and be insufficient.
In addition to planning for the financial aspect of your affairs during incapacity, you should establish a plan for your medical care. The law allows you to appoint someone you trust - for example, a family member or close friend to make decisions on your behalf about medical treatment options if you lose the ability to decide for yourself. You can do this by using a durable power of attorney for health care where you designate the person to make such decisions. In addition to a power of attorney for heath care, you should also have a living will which informs others of your preferred medical treatments should you become permanently unconscious or terminally ill.
Avoiding Probate
If you leave your estate to your loved ones using a will, all of your assets will pass through probate. The process is expensive, time-consuming and open to the public. The probate court is in control of the process until the estate has been settled and distributed. If you are married and have children, you want to make certain that your surviving family has immediate access to cash to pay for living expenses while your estate is being settled. It is not unusual for the probate courts to freeze assets for weeks or even months while trying to determine the proper disposition of the estate. Your surviving spouse may be forced to apply to the probate court for needed cash to pay current living expenses. You can imagine how stressful this process can be. With proper planning, your assets can pass on to your loved ones without undergoing probate, in a way that is efficient and private.
Providing for Minor Children
It is important that your estate plan address issues regarding the upbringing of your children. If your children are young, you may want to consider implementing a plan that will allow your surviving spouse to be able to devote more attention to your children, without the burden of working outside the home. You may also want to provide for professional assistance and resources for your spouse and children if you believe they lack the experience or ability to handle financial and legal matters. A good plan should provide for people you’d like to manage your assets as well as the guardian you’d like to nominate for the upbringing of your children. Otherwise, the decision as to who will manage your finances and raise your children will be left to a court of law. Even if you are lucky enough to have the person or persons you would have wanted selected by the court, they may have undue burdens and restrictions placed on them by the court, such as having to provide annual accounting. You should give careful thought to your choice of guardian, ensuring that he or she shares the values you want instilled in your children. You will also want to give consideration to the age and financial condition of a potential guardian. Make sure that your plan does not create an additional financial burden for the guardian.
If you knew you could protect the assets you are passing on to your children from their creditors, predators, divorce, lawsuits, the risk of “affluenza,” or themselves, would you want to? The primary goal of wealth transfer should be the preservation of your values and the corresponding protection of your children. With issues today of divorce, drug and alcohol dependence, lawsuits, and fiscal irresponsibility, you can design a plan that can give your children the support and maintenance they need while safeguarding them. Outright distributions can, and often do, have a devastating effect on the recipient. Comprehensive estate planning will ask the right questions and provide the solutions you may want and need.
Planning for Death Taxes
Whether there will be any federal estate tax to pay depends on the size of your estate and how your estate plan works. Many states have their own separate estate and inheritance taxes that you need to be aware of. There are many well-established strategies that can be implemented to reduce or eliminate death taxes, but you must start planning process early in order to implement many of these plans.
Charitable Bequests – Planned Giving
Do you want to benefit a charitable organization or cause? Your estate plan can provide for such organizations in a variety of ways, either during your lifetime or at your death. Depending on how your planned giving plan is set up, it may also let you receive a stream of income for life, earn higher investment yield, or reduce your capital gains or estate taxes.
Wealth Transfer Planning
A well-crafted estate plan should provide for your loved ones in an effective and efficient manner by avoiding guardianship during your lifetime, probate at death, estate and income taxes and unnecessary delays. You should consult a qualified estate planning attorney to review your family and financial situation, your goals and explain the various options available to you. Once your estate plan is in place, you will have peace of mind knowing that you have provided for yourself and your family. |