The federal estate tax is potentially applicable on asset transfers to anyone other than your spouse. It is possible to use the unlimited marital deduction to transfer any amount of property to your spouse free of the death tax. There is a gift tax that exists to stop people from giving gifts in an effort to avoid the estate tax. This unlimited marital deduction also applies to lifetime gift giving. The estate tax exclusion is $5.43 million. This is the amount you could transfer to anyone … [Read more...] about Estate Tax: Citizenship Can Be a Factor
Trusts
What Is a QTIP Trust?
The acronym QTIP may conjure certain images outside of an estate planning context. For our purposes as estate planning attorneys, the acronym stands for a qualified terminable interest property trust. This type of trust can be useful if you are a parent who is getting remarried. Protecting Your Children If you are getting remarried as a parent, you may have estate planning concerns. Clearly, you want to make sure that you provide resources for your new spouse to draw from after you are gone if … [Read more...] about What Is a QTIP Trust?
Should I Use a Revocable or Irrevocable Trust?
When you think about the financial decisions that you have made throughout your life, you recognize the fact that you have had many options. You weigh all of the factors when you make an important financial decision, and you go forward in a fully informed manner. This type of logic should apply to estate planning as well. Each family is different, and everyone is in a different financial situation. There are many different approaches that can be taken, and you should be fully apprised of all of … [Read more...] about Should I Use a Revocable or Irrevocable Trust?
Is a Living Trust Really Better Than a Will?
You may be under the impression that you should use a last will as your primary estate planning tool if you do not consider yourself to be enormously wealthy with a very complex estate. It can be natural to assume that a living trust is just a glorified type of last will that is really not going to provide much of a difference. In reality, there are some very tangible reasons why someone could suggest that a living trust is better than a last will. Let's look at some of the advantages that you … [Read more...] about Is a Living Trust Really Better Than a Will?
What Is A Northern California Qualified Domestic Trust
What Is A Northern California Qualified Domestic Trust from Timothy Murphy After the death of your spouse, the remainder in the qualified domestic trust would go to secondary beneficiaries that you name in the trust declaration. Learn more about Northern California qualified domestic trust in this presentation. … [Read more...] about What Is A Northern California Qualified Domestic Trust
Marriage in the Golden Years
As we live longer, a marriage later in life is becoming more common with our aging society. That means changes to your estate plan are more crucial than ever. It also means the likelihood of new family members, from adult children to grandchildren and sometimes even great grandchildren. Social Security Benefits There are a number of dynamics that potentially play out when it comes to your social security benefits. Even if you’ve carefully prepared, you now have to consider more than just … [Read more...] about Marriage in the Golden Years
Making Sure Your Living Trust Performs As Intended
When setting up a trust, preparing the documents does not finish the process. If the person who sets up the trust fails to properly transfer their assets into it, it can become an underfunded or unfunded. This lack of proper funding can lead to a failure of a person’s estate plan, and also increases the potential for disputes throughout the process of probating the estate. What is an Unfunded Trust? A trust is a legal document that involves a trustor, a trustee, and a beneficiary. The trustor … [Read more...] about Making Sure Your Living Trust Performs As Intended
How to Protect IRAs Left to Your Beneficiairies
A recent U.S. Supreme Court decision, Clark v. Rameker, will have big implications for clients. In the Clark case, the Supreme Court held that, while a person’s own IRA can be protected in the case of bankruptcy, the court has determined that an inherited IRA cannot, at least when it is inherited by someone other than a spouse. While that is big news for those who have already inherited an IRA, it is a call to action for those planning to leave one behind. Being aware of the consequences of … [Read more...] about How to Protect IRAs Left to Your Beneficiairies
Two Tips to Help You Better Understand Living Trusts
Today, many people who create an estate plan include a revocable living trust as a foundational piece. The great benefit of a revocable living trust lies in its ability to allow your estate to avoid, or at least minimize, the effect probate will play in transferring estate property. Unfortunately, most people have little experience dealing with trust, and don’t really understand how they operate. To help you better grasp the concept of what a living trust is and how it works, we’ve come up with … [Read more...] about Two Tips to Help You Better Understand Living Trusts
Your Estate Plan Will Include These 4 Important Tools
Regardless of where you are in life or what you want to accomplish with your estate plan, everyone who creates a plan in California will likely rely on at least four important tools. These tools will protect most of your important interests, and allow you to achieve most of your estate planning goals. Even if you and your attorney decide that you need additional tools to help you, understanding what these four important tools do and how they work can give you a much better understanding of why … [Read more...] about Your Estate Plan Will Include These 4 Important Tools
