The benefits of using a living trust are many. Pairing it with a pour-over will can help wrangle any loose assets that you purposely (or inadvertently) didn’t transfer to the living trust.
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Have you made your end-of-life arrangements and incorporated them into your overall estate plan?
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As a spouse and parent, you have the challenge of ensuring your spouse is provided for after your death while making certain there are assets left for your children’s inheritances. A qualified terminable interest proper (QTIP) trust may be the answer.
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Don’t miss an opportunity to claim charitable deductions when making charitable gifts. The key is understanding the IRS’s substantiation rules.
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Are you paying proper attention to beneficiary designations for your retirement accounts, life insurance policies, and other “non-probate” assets? Failing to do so can result in unintentional asset distributions or legal disputes.
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Is an irrevocable life insurance trust right for you?
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Will the IRS deem your intrafamily money transfer a loan or a gift? The devil is in the details.
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Determining whether to use a quiet trust or an incentive trust in your estate plan can be difficult. Here are the pros and cons.
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A custodial account offers a flexible way to save for your child’s future, but compare it to other options, such as education-specific savings vehicles and the new Trump Accounts.
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Familiarize yourself with the duties of an executor before accepting the position at the request of a family member or friend.
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Payable-on-death (POD) and transfer-on-death (TOD) accounts can be simple, inexpensive tools for leaving assets to your heirs outside of probate. But are they right for all estates?
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An estate planning “road map” can act as a catchall for your final thoughts. Write them down in a letter of instruction.
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Estate planning is about more than just distributing assets; it’s an opportunity to reflect your values and legacy. Here are two options for making charitable contributions while creating a charitable legacy.
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The One, Big, Beautiful Bill Act permanently makes advantageous changes to the federal gift and estate tax exemption amount. Here’s the story.
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There are many hurdles to overcome in estate planning. They can include potential estate taxes, complex tax laws and a lengthy probate process, among other things. But the biggest obstacle is often self-imposed: procrastination.
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Under the proposed One, Big, Beautiful Bill, the federal gift and estate tax exemption would permanently increase to $15 million and be indexed annually for inflation.
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Taking care of loved ones in your estate plan should include the four-legged variety. Here’s how to address your pets in your estate plan.
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Even though family members generally aren’t personally liable for any remaining debt of a deceased loved one, that debt doesn’t simply disappear.
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A trustee is the person who has legal responsibility for administering a trust on behalf of the trust’s beneficiaries. What qualifications should you look for when choosing a trustee?
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While you, as grantor, generally can’t change an irrevocable trust, your trustee can “decant” it. Doing so allows the trustee to change the trust’s terms under certain conditions.
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