When income is received from any source, you are naturally going to be concerned about taxation. This will enter the picture when it comes to estate planning, and there are some misconceptions out there. In this post, we will take a look at the subject and pass along three facts about taxation that you should understand when you enter the estate planning process. Inheritances are not subject to regular income taxes. If someone leaves you an inheritance through the terms of a last will, you … [Read more...]
Lessons Learned From Aretha Franklin Estate Case
When you hear about mistakes that others make that yield negative consequences in the real world, it can really get your attention and impact your own actions. Yes, people can give you advice, but witnessing examples of what can actually happen can be a wake-up call.This definitely enters the picture when it comes to estate planning. Attorneys will emphasize the importance, but at the end of the day, the majority of people go through life without any estate planning documents at all. Both … [Read more...]
Asset Protection for the Reno Business Community
Many of our clients are business owners, and indeed, Reno is a fantastic place to establish a business, whether it is a small operation or a large corporate location. There are a number of different reasons why the state of Nevada is very attractive to members of the business community.One of them is the fact that there are not a lot of heavy taxes on businesses in our state. If you were to establish a limited liability company in Nevada, you would not have to worry about paying any … [Read more...]
Communication Can Prevent Inheritance Disputes
For a lot of people, estate planning is simply a matter of slicing up a pie. You decide who will have a seat at the dessert table and how large the respective slices will be for each individual. In a very basic sense, there is truth to this, but there is much more to take into consideration if you want to plan your estate effectively.First, you have to recognize the fact that there are different types of “pies” as it were. The way that assets are distributed if you use a last will is … [Read more...]
Study: 57% of Adults Have No Estate Plans
They say that the only two certainties of life are death and taxes, and everyone is well aware of the April 15th date that approaches all too rapidly. With few exceptions, most people are diligent about making preparations for tax day. Yet, for some unknown reason, the majority of the same folks totally ignore the other inevitability that we will all face at some point in time.A while back, a website that is focused on legal matters did some research to get a feel for the estate planning … [Read more...]
Succession Planning for Business Partners
There are many tools in the estate planning toolkit, so there are various strategies that can be implemented depending on the circumstances. This is one of the reasons why it is important to discuss your situation and your options with an estate planning attorney. If you make assumptions without enough information, you may make mistakes that could have been avoided.This can apply to people that are partners in small businesses. You may assume that you have no choice but to leave your share … [Read more...]
A Look at Tax-Free Gift Giving
Many people that reside in our area have been very successful financially, and we have developed numerous relationships with high net worth families over the years. We continue to build on them, and it is gratifying to help successful people preserve their legacies for the benefit of their loved ones.One of the most important things to take into consideration when you are engaged in the estate planning process is the potential for taxation. Though there are state-level estate taxes in some … [Read more...]
How Do You Choose a Trustee?
When you find out all the facts about last wills, you will probably be interested in alternatives. What’s wrong with a will as an asset transfer vehicle? The short answer is that that a will must be admitted to probate, which is a costly, time-consuming legal process. You can also add in a number of other drawbacks that we will cover in a future post.A revocable living trust would be a better choice for most people. If you are concerned about losing control of assets that you convey into a … [Read more...]
Kiddie Tax is Worse Than Ever
The Kiddie Tax can apply to the unearned income of children. Read on to learn if this tax applies to you or your children. Also, learn ways to avoid the Kiddie Tax.Kiddie Tax is Worse Than Ever … [Read more...]
An Alphabet Soup of Irrevocable Trusts
There are certain trusts that can be looked at as asset protection trusts for people that are exposed to the estate tax. These would be irrevocable trust, but there are other trusts that fit into this category that can be useful for other purposes. Since the names of these devices are wordy, they are often reduced to acronyms, and we will provide some decoding in this blog post. Supplemental Needs Trusts (SNT) and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) One of these irrevocable trusts that is not … [Read more...]
