An Estate Planning Checklist What to check (and double-check) before you leave this world. Create a will if you don’t have one. A valid will may save your heirs from some expensive headaches linked to probate and ambiguity. A solid will drafted with the guidance of an estate planning attorney may cost you more than the will-in-a-box, but may prove to be some of the best money you ever spend. Complement your will with related documents. Depending on your estate [...]
Why you should periodically review beneficiary designations. Your choices may need to change with the times. When did you open your first IRA? When did you buy your life insurance policy? Are you still living in the same home and working at the same job as you did back then? Have your priorities changed a bit – perhaps more than a bit? While your beneficiary choices may seem obvious and rock-solid when you initially make them, time has a way [...]
At the end of 2012, some very nice estate tax breaks could sunset. Barring action by Congress, 2013 could see a 20% leap in the federal estate tax rate from 35% to 55%. The individual estate tax exclusion (currently $5.12 million) is scheduled to be reduced to $1 million.1 As we have unified gift and estate tax rates, those numbers and percentages also apply to gift taxes. That is, from 2012 to 2013 top federal gift tax rate is set [...]