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Estate Planning

Articles About Estate Planning

  • "2010 Tax Act" Year-End Transfer Tax Planning Alert (aicpa.org)
    Congress and President Obama were able to agree upon a far-reaching compromise before the Christmas holiday that affects unemployment benefits, estate planning and taxes, among other things. The outcome is entitled "The Tax Relief, Unemployment Insurance Reauthorization, and Job Creation Act of 2010, P.L. 111-312" ("2010 Tax Act") and has been signed into law. The new law contains numerous significant changes that will affect estate plans across the board.
  • Death Tax Lives in Estate Repeal for Heir Who Must Sell Assets (Bloomberg.com – 5/7/10)
    Estate planners and their wealthy clients are in purgatory, struggling with whether to spend tens of thousands of dollars to restructure wills, only to have to spend even more if the law is changed again. Estate planning under ordinary circumstances is expensive and complex. The new environment poses unforeseen risks, such as potential heirs finding themselves unintentionally disinherited if wills aren’t properly rewritten. Others face new tax and accounting complications.
  • E-mails and Embryos: 21st Century Estate Planning (Greater Lansing Business Monthly)
    As technology speeds along, estate planners need to keep up. Michigan statutes now provide for children conceived through artificial insemination as legal heirs, but what about children conceived after the death of a parent? And what about your online legacies, including blogs, e-mail, Facebook and other Internet accounts? Can your family access these after your death? As always, planning ahead is key to saving your family from additional stress and grief.
    Patti's Comments:  I was quoted in this article.
  • How to Make a Trust an Account Owner of a 529 Plan (Morningstar Advisor)
    Most state qualified tuition programs permit a trust to be an account owner of a 529 savings plan.
  • How to Pass Down Your Family Vacation Retreat (Forbes – 6/10/10)
    Here's how to protect your vacation retreat from the taxman and intrafamily strains.
  • Lapsed Federal Estate Tax Creates Couples Trap (Forbes – 7/21/10)
    For estate tax planning purposes, married couples traditionally use a planning technique known as "A-B" trusts. Upon the death of the first to die, the original single trust is split into two trusts, a "decedent's trust" or "tax credit trust" (A) and a "survivor's trust" (B). The decedent's trust is funded with the greatest value of assets on which there will be no federal estate tax for the first to die. The remainder of the couple's assets fund the survivor's trust. Done properly, at the death of the second spouse, the assets in the decedent's trust go to the children, with no taxes due, since they technically passed to the next generation under the estate tax exemption of the first spouse who died. In this way, the couple is still able to take advantage of the estate tax credit granted to each individual spouse.
  • Leaving Your Roth IRA to the Kiddies (Wall Street Journal – 5/1/10)
    So you have decided that taxes have nowhere to go but up, and you are converting your traditional IRA to a Roth. But what happens if you die when your grandchildren are still young?
  • Married Couple's Guide to the New Estate Tax Law (Forbes – 12/23/10)
    The sweeping tax overhaul that President Obama signed Dec. 17, raising the exemption from federal estate tax to $5 million a person, includes a wonderful new break for widows and widowers.
  • Retirement Planning Calculators (LexisNexis – 7/30/10)
    A recent article by syndicated columnist Mark Miller discusses popular retirement calculators and flaws that could lead to serious miscalculations when planning for retirement.
  • Saving Secretly For a Son Who Might Need It (NJ.com – 1/4/12)
    Question: My 39-year-old son has a spotty health and employment history. He is likely to have minimal savings upon his retirement. How can I fund a hopefully tax-deferred retirement fund for him now without his knowledge?
  • The Dangers of DIY Estate Planning (US News – 6/29/10)
    Every year, thousands of consumers bypass lawyers and create their own wills, powers of attorney, and other estate planning documents with the help of online tools and books. As one might expect, lawyers don't like this do-it-yourself approach. They say it breeds mistakes, since when it comes to legal issues, one size never fits all. Do they have a valid point, or are they just trying to protect their own livelihoods?
  • Trust as Beneficiary of IRA is a Popular Strategy (Wall Street Journal – 8/29/09)
    Answers the question: My wife and I are both over 65 and are doing some estate planning. Can I transfer funds from a traditional IRA to a trust without immediately being taxed? What would be the tax consequences of making the trust the beneficiary of my IRA?
  • Using Annuities for Long-Term Care Planning (Elder Law Weblog – 9/23/08)
    Insurance agents and financial institutions often advertise annuities as the perfect way to generate retirement income. While annuities can be a valuable retirement tool, if you are buying an annuity as part of a Medi-Cal planning strategy, you need to fully understand what you are getting.
  • Using Trusts to Protect Benefits from Beneficiaries' Creditors (Bruce D. Steiner – Sept. 2010)
    The law governing the protection of inherited individual retirement accounts from credits is uncertain at best. The statutes and court interpretations vary from state to state.  Despite the uncertainty as to state law, an IRA owner can protect against beneficiaries' creditors by leaving it in trust rather than outright.
  • When do You Need to Update Your Estate Plan? (Elder Law Answers Blog)
    An outdated estate plan does you no good, so you need to make sure you keep your plan up-to-date. There are certain key life moments when you need to revisit your plan. When you get married — either a first marriage or a remarriage — you will need to update your estate plan. When you have kids, you can use your estate plan to name a guardian for them and to create a trust for them. If your spouse dies or you get divorced, you should make sure your estate plan reflects this. In addition, if your estate increases in value or decreases in value, you may need to evaluate your estate plan to determine if it properly minimizes estate taxes.

Publications About Estate Planning

Resources: Websites, Blogs, Services

  • Beyond Structured Settlements – Patrick Hindert
    Collaborative thinking and commentary about how the Internet impacts structured settlements, settlement planning and special needs planning.
  • Death and Taxes – The Blog – Joel Schoenmeyer
    Commentary on estate planning, estate administration and real estate issues from a Chicago area attorney.
  • eDivvy Up – Estate Distribution
    Aunique online auction platform that is designed to engage family members in an equitable method for the division of property after the death of a parent or other loved one.
  • Estate Planning Elder Law.com – Correira & Iacono LLP
    A regional full-service trusts and estates law firm with a mission to provide clients with value, commitment and service.
  • Get IRS Help.com
    A blog by tax attorney Darrin T. Mish focusing on solving tax problems.
  • MIB Solutions – Policy Locator Service
    If you are an executor, or administrator (in cases where there have been no probate proceedings, a surviving spouse or other relative eligible for appointment may be entitled to order the report), Policy Locator can maximize your opportunity to discover life insurance benefits you may not have realized existed.
  • Sylvester Law Firm – Patrick Sylvester
    An estate planning and probate lawyer representing clients in Illinois, Wisconsin and Florida.
  • Wachbrit & Associates, PC – Diedre Wachbrit blog
    A California attorney specializing in estate planning, asset protection and special needs

More PEKD Advocacy pages about Estate Planning: