Estate Planning

Your "estate" consists of all property owned by you at the time of your death, including:

• Real estate
• Bank accounts
• Stocks and other securities,
• Life insurance policies,
• Personal property such as automobiles, jewelry, and artwork.

Regardless of your age, or the size and complexity of your estate, an estate plan can accomplish the following:

• Identify the family members and other loved ones that you wish to receive your property after your death.
• Name guardians for minor or special needs children
• Designate trustees for the management of financial assets
• Ensure that your property will be transferred to those you have identified, as quickly and with as few legal hurdles as possible.
• Minimize the amount of taxes that will need to be paid in order for your property to pass to others after your death.
• Avoid the time and costs associated with the probate process by utilizing estate planning devices like living trusts and "payable on death" bank accounts.
• Dictate the kinds of life-prolonging medical care you wish to receive should you be unable to make your wishes known when the time comes.
• Set forth the kind of funeral arrangements you would like, and how related expenses are to be paid.
• Create charitable trusts to establish a legacy for your life’s work

Careful estate planning means not merely creating a will, but also designing a comprehensive and flexible plan to protect future generations from the significant gift and estate taxes that often accompany the transfer of wealth. Depending upon your specific needs, this plan may involve the organization of assets and their form of ownership, the involvement of appropriate fiduciaries, or the development of broad-ranging strategies intended to minimize taxes and maximize benefits for family members.

*Assuming that EGTRRA is not extended after 2010.

You’ve worked hard over the years to accumulate your assets. But without an estate plan, what you thought would be passed along to those you care about could dwindle significantly as a result of taxes and other wealth transfer costs.

Although estate taxes and probate expenses are a reality, you can drastically reduce them by effective estate planning that will preserve your legacy.

Life insurance can be an important estate planning tool. As long as insurability requirements are met and premium payments are made, life insurance creates an estate — possibly a sizeable estate — not limited by the insured's net worth or the nature or value of other assets. With few exceptions, the life-insurance-provided liquidity is not subject to income tax for the person (beneficiary) who receives it.

Under appropriate arrangements, the face value of life insurance is not subject to estate, inheritance, or gift taxes. Thus, there are tax incentives for including life insurance in your estate plan.

The death benefit from a life insurance settlement has many potential uses. It can pay taxes and related estate settlement expenses, allow fulfillment of business agreements, pay operating expenses during the transition after a family member's death, provide funds for survivors' living expenses, and provide needed liquidity. In family and business situations where the death of a family member could cause financial crisis, life insurance proceeds can support transitions to new work and living arrangements.

Life insurance also can be used to provide the equivalent of a bequest to children or grandchildren who do not inherit other personal or business assets — they often have moved to locations away from the parents' or grandparents' home or business. As life insurance beneficiaries, they receive or share in the death benefit. Other survivors, typically those active in a family business or other aspects of family life, receive tangible and intangible assets important to their future well-being. Family conflicts over ownership and control of income-generating assets often can be minimized or avoided.

Internal Revenue Service regulations and rulings define circumstances in which the value of a life insurance death benefit is excluded from the insured's estate. These regulations and rulings are very detailed. Benefit Design can provide you with information on the most frequently identified decision-making considerations in estate planning.

For a no-obligation quote, use our online Quote Forms under Resources or call 480.998.0096.