Why Trusts Make Sense
Done right by a lawyer, your heirs can avoid the expense and time of probating your will and may save on estate taxes, while easing the administration of your affairs while alive and after you have gone.
Done right by a lawyer, your heirs can avoid the expense and time of probating your will and may save on estate taxes, while easing the administration of your affairs while alive and after you have gone.
Every family has one–or maybe more–black sheep. They’re people who march to their own drum and handing them an inheritance could be problematic.
Taking a few simple steps now can potentially help save your beneficiaries thousands in legal fees and taxes.
Is it better to transfer the title of the home to us, or to leave it as it is given her age and go through probate?
Remember that a will goes through probate, so a husband and wife typically try to avoid it by using joint ownership or beneficiary designations. However, they’re often mistaken by believing the will still controls their estate.
Gifting sounds pretty simple, but there are many ways to do it. There are also several tax ramifications to be aware of.
If you are the parent of a person with special needs, you are well aware that the role you play is very different than it may be for other children. Properly planning to meet their financial needs, both in the immediate and long term, is a critical part of supporting your child. This support must often continue well past the typical age of adulthood, which means parents need to put in place financial tools to care for their children, in the event of the parents’ death.
Your real estate holdings, life insurance, bank accounts and retirement savings won’t magically flow into your trust.
A trustee is a manager of assets in a trust. The grantor creates the trust and appoints the trustee. A trustee has a ‘fiduciary duty’ to serve the grantor and not benefit personally.
When dealing with the emotional pain of the loss of a loved one, family members also have to address daunting administrative tasks.