You Can Benefit from Giving Gifts

You Can Benefit from Giving Gifts. A benefit of working hard is sharing the fruits of your labor with your loved ones. However, gift or estate tax consequences may impact high net worth clients when they share their wealth. By crafting a comprehensive estate plan, we can address these concerns and protect high net worth clients and their loved ones. The following three types of trusts may assist high net worth clients in sharing their wealth in a tax-advantageous way.

Could a Testamentary Trust Be What Your Loved Ones Need?

There are pros and cons to probate, and after weighing them, some people may prefer to establish a testamentary trust, which is a trust created through a will—even if this means that the person’s money and property must go through probate before the trust is funded and money is given to beneficiaries.

Home Security Systems and Estate Planning

Estate planning helps bring peace of mind and a sense of security, both in our lifetime and beyond. While we cannot predict our fate, we can at least dictate how our money and property will be distributed and ensure that we provide for our loved ones. End-of-life situations can present thieves with opportunities to take advantage of vulnerable families. A home security system can fit nicely into estate planning goals, providing an extra layer of protection when we are gone—both temporarily and permanently.

What is a Devise in My Estate Plan?

So exactly what is a devise in your estate plan? A devise is a legal term that traditionally has referred to a gift of real estate made by a will. However, in common usage, it has been used interchangeably with other legal terms such as a bequest, which traditionally refers to a gift made in a will of personal property—that is, property other than real estate. Courts will uphold the use of either term for a gift of real or personal property in a will if the will clearly shows that the person who created it (the willmaker) intended to make the gift.

Three Important Concerns Self-Employed Individuals Should Address

Being self-employed is no easy task. You are the owner, and in some cases, the only employee. While you may have more freedom than the average worker, a lot of responsibilities lie on your shoulders. Working together, we can craft a comprehensive estate plan that will help you address three important concerns you may have.

Was Your Loved One a Book Lover? Think Twice Before You Throw Them Out

An individual’s belongings—such as jewelry, furniture, photographs, and books—sometimes slip through the cracks of their estate plan. Most books have little or no market value. Those that are not valuable to collectors, however, may have personal value. And a book collection could contain a hidden treasure or two, not only due to a book’s rarity but because of what is hidden in its pages.

How a Community Property Trust Could Save You Money in Taxes

When it comes to your family’s legacy, every dollar you can save from taxation counts. One way to keep your accounts and property out of the hands of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is to form a community property trust.

Things You Must Do to Protect Your Family if You Are Recently Unemployed

If you have recently lost your job, you are not alone! Inflation has skyrocketed in the United States over the past couple of years. Some smaller businesses have not been able to survive the increased expenses, putting employees out of work, while many larger companies have laid off employees to reduce their costs. If you are dealing with a job loss, you can transform what you may view as a crisis into an opportunity to take steps to protect yourself and your family.

Investment and Distribution Trustees: Why Would I Need Both?

When creating a trust, it is common to name yourself as the initial trustee who is responsible for all aspects of administering the trust. However, when considering who will take over when you can no longer act (either because of illness or death), it is sometimes helpful to divide the responsibilities between two or more successor trustees.

Mental Health Awareness: How an Estate Plan Can Help Improve Anxiety

Roughly one in five US adults experiences a mental illness each year. Anxiety disorders are among the most common mental health conditions, affecting nearly one-third of adults at some point in their lives. While anxiety can be generalized and chronic, it can also be a normal reaction to everyday stresses, such as worrying about finances, health, and family.

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