Inheritance can be a lifeline for people coping with immediate financial needs, yet the wait for probate or estate administration to conclude often puts beneficiaries in a challenging position. Legal procedures must be honored, but bills and responsibilities persist in the meantime. In a world where timing can be everything, inheritance advances have emerged as a strategy to bridge the gap between a locked-up asset and actual financial liquidity.
Effective estate planning is essential for individuals who wish to ensure that their wealth is preserved and transferred to their heirs with minimal tax implications. Through careful consideration of various strategies and legal structures, individuals can optimize their estate to serve their financial goals. Understanding these tactics can significantly impact the financial well-being of future generations and reduce the tax burden on your estate.
Inheritance laws can be intricate and vary significantly depending on your jurisdiction. Whether you’re planning your estate, serving as an executor, or receiving an inheritance, understanding the complexities of these laws is crucial to ensure a smooth and legally sound process. This guide will help you navigate the key aspects of inheritance laws and provide practical steps to address common challenges. Keep on reading to learn more!
The selection of an estate planning attorney is an important method of asset protection and ensuring that your wishes are carried out. Not only for the rich, estate planning is a way for those who simply want to make sure steps are taken in the treatment and distribution of their estate once they have passed away. How would you choose an attorney from the many choices available within San Diego? This article explores the key things you look for in an estate planning attorney.
How do financial experts help clients achieve growth? Advisors are key to guiding individuals and businesses toward financial success. They offer personalized strategies designed to build wealth and secure a stable future. Let’s explore the key approaches used by professionals in Novi.
Lodi NJ, the New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission (NJMVC) today announced that registered owners of a motor vehicle may now designate a transfer on death (TOD) beneficiary to receive ownership of the vehicle upon the death of the last surviving owner.
No one likes to think about death, but it’s something that we all have to face at some point. And when that time comes, it’s essential to ensure your loved ones are taken care of. That’s why it’s so important to have a will to be sure your wishes are carried out after you’re gone. But for many Americans, making a will is easier said than done. They don’t know where to start, think it’s too expensive, or are afraid of the process.
Most people spend years working and saving up for their families. The various assets and investments that you made through the entirety of your career are nothing but the means of sustenance for your loved ones and a comfortable future. Most of us never wonder what would happen if something were to happen to us, this is due to poor planning and fear of thinking about death.
When it comes to real estate planning, you might be facing a bit of a challenge. This is an emotional phase of your life, so you’ll need to understand how to achieve these goals. Writing a will and making decisions about your inheritance is an important part of your financial plan and is just as crucial as pensions or making investments. To get the full scope on the importance of estate planning, this guide will give you reasons on why you should prepare for this early on.
Ridgewood NJ, The Financial Planning Association of New Jersey (FPANJ) is launching a new, five-part video series to stress the importance of learning about your money, and how a Certified Financial Planner(TM) can play a role in reaching your financial goals.
The series features “man on the street” interviews with people, asking them questions based on the following topics:
Estate Planning
Taxes
College Planning
Social Security
Health Care
“These are topics that everyone – regardless of their income – is impacted by every day, whether or not they want to think about it,” said FPANJ President Rob Rafano. “The purpose is to demonstrate all of the various issues that CFP®s help clients handle, and why not knowing what you don’t know can keep you from building wealth, planning for retirement and so much more.”
“We are hoping that this will start the conversation among consumers about how to get started learning more about their finances, saving and investing more, and leaning on the expertise of financial professionals to get them there,” Rafano said, adding, “we are also relying on our local media to help educate the public, as there is always something happening in the news that these videos relate to.”
Ridgewood NJ, After a lifetime of working hard and saving faithfully, some people just want to enjoy retirement and spend their money without worrying about passing on anything to the next generation.
But plenty of others are determined to leave a legacy – whether it’s by bequeathing a tidy sum to their children and grandchildren, or bestowing a beloved charity with a parting donation.
Not everyone, though, takes the necessary steps to accomplish their goals.
“Don’t assume everything you have left when you die will go to your children or to your favorite cause,” says Stephanie Fullerton, president and co-founder of Fullerton Financial Planning Group and author of Living a Happy, Healthy and Inspired Retirement (www.Fullertonfp.com).
“Taxes and other costs can eat away at your legacy.”
That’s why it’s important to have a financial plan in place to help make sure as much of your wealth as possible ends up in the right hands.
It’s wise to seek professional advice from those who can guide you through the options, Fullerton says. Among some of the things to consider:
• A will. Everyone knows about wills, at least in theory, but that doesn’t mean they take the time to visit with an attorney and have one drawn up. A Harris Poll last year reported that 64 percent of Americans don’t have wills. • An IRA. Many people think of an IRA as the nest egg that will help them survive retirement, but these accounts also are one of the largest types of assets inherited by beneficiaries. If you don’t anticipate needing your IRA money in retirement, Fullerton says, you might consider a legacy-planning strategy that will help reduce taxes and increase the payout your beneficiaries will inherit upon your death. • Trusts. There are many different types of trusts, and they can be complex to set up and execute. However, a trust can be a flexible and advantageous means to transfer your assets in the future, Fullerton says. Most trusts also provide current benefits, such as tax-deferral and deductions. Unlike a will, a trust will avoid probate upon your death, but a trust is also more expensive to prepare. A qualified estate-planning attorney who specializes in these matters can explain more.
Before you get started on a plan, Fullerton suggests thinking about what types of gifts you want to leave to others – and it doesn’t have to be just money.
“It can be items you own, such as your house, a favorite work of art, special dishes used at every family gathering or a family heirloom,” she says.
You don’t even have to wait until you die, Fullerton says. Experiences also can be a legacy, such as taking a special trip each year with a different grandchild to give them memories that will last not only your lifetime, but theirs as well.
About Stephanie Fullerton
Stephanie Fullerton, author of Living a Happy, Healthy and Inspired Retirement (www.Fullertonfp.com), is president and co-founder of Phoenix-based Fullerton Financial Planning. She and her husband, Steve, an investment adviser with Kingdom Financial Group, work together to assist clients in protecting their retirement savings and to create an income stream that will last a lifetime. She is featured on two weekly radio shows and frequently appears on local television.
Investment advisory services offered through Kingdom Financial Group, LLC, an SEC Registered Investment Advisor.
Ridgewood NJ, In the wake of Prince’s death, it has been called “the worst estate planning sin a wealthy artist could commit: leaving no will at all.”
Rather than providing a clear plan for dividing his assets among loved ones, Prince may have created a situation where there could be decades of legal fights within his family. And, without a will, Prince’s legacy misses out on a huge concern he’d confronted during his career – to be an example, illustrated in a will, of freeing artists from restrictive recording contracts.
Why? The reason may never be clear. Perhaps the fact that his toxicology report found large traces of the painkilling drug Percocet has something to do with it.
“Consciously or otherwise, some people simply do not deal well with addressing after-death legacy,” says attorney Hillel Presser of the Presser Law Firm, P.A., which specializes in comprehensive asset protection, which includes wills.
“I have no idea whether Prince had some other principle at work, but the lack of a will clearly lays the burden on the living, who are left with an abundance of guesswork.”
Presser’s recommendations for those who don’t want to follow in Prince’s footsteps include:
• If you don’t have a will, get to work on one. Eighty percent of American adults have something in common with Prince – they have no will. That’s a mistake; even more so if you have a family. Your heirs could end up feuding over your possessions, maybe even taking each other to court. If you have children who are minors, what would become of them if you and your spouse both died? In a will, you could give clear instructions on who you would want to appoint as their guardian. • If you have a will, consider updating it. An old estate plan can be worse than none at all. Maybe you are now divorced. Maybe your financial situation has changed significantly enough that you want to make other plans for what you leave behind. If you have assets now that you didn’t have when you drew up the original will, you will want to add them so that there’s no confusion after you die. • Find a good estate planner. This is particularly important if you have a taxable or complex estate. A good estate planner can save you a fortune in estate taxes and help you achieve other estate-planning objectives, including some you might have overlooked.
“Find attorneys you can trust,” Presser says. “If you have legal claims against you after death, then an asset-protection attorney should work with your estate-planning attorney so that your heirs get as much of your estate as legally possible – creditor-free.”
About Hillel L. Presser, Esq., MBA
Hillel L. Presser’s firm, The Presser Law Firm, P.A., represents individuals and businesses in establishing comprehensive asset protection plans. He is a former adjunct faculty member for law at Lynn University and offers complimentary copies of his book “Financial Self-Defense” through www.assetprotectionattorneys.com.
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