Estate Planning Articles

• Professional Advisors: See our Daily Plan-It Article Archive

Special Section: Estate Planning Strategies During an Economic Downturn:

CLAT: Help a Charity, Keep a Deduction, and Transfer an Asset to the Kids ... A Charitable Lead Annuity Trust is another strategy that can help protect your wealth during a down economy.

FICs: Sharing the Family Business without Giving Up Control ... A family investment company can be a great way to lessen your estate taxes, ensure continuous family ownership and maintain control over the business and its assets.

Gifting: As Simple as Writing a Check ... One of the easiest ways to transfer assets is to take advantage of current gifting laws.

Grantor Retained Annuity Trusts ... A GRAT allows you to freeze the value of your assets, avoid estate tax, and give your kids the benefit.

Intentionally Defective Grantor Trusts ... An IDGT allows you to give the appreciation while keeping the income.

Welcome to the Bank of Mom and Dad ... Help relatives with loans, but protect the principal.

Other Estate Planning Articles

Been Thinking about a GRAT? Act Now – Before Congress Does ... Proposed restrictions would likely be effective when the bill is signed, which means there is still a window of opportunity to set up GRATs under the old rules

Combating the Rising Costs of Long-Term Care ... One of the greatest challenges many Americans face is how to protect their families from the rising costs of long-term care, both for their elderly parents and for themselves when they reach retirement age.

Converting Your IRA to a Roth IRA Gets Easier in 2010 ... On January 1, 2010, the government will end the income limits that have prevented many people from converting their traditional IRAs or employer-sponsored retirement plans to a Roth IRA.

Could the Estate Tax Repeal Cost Your Family More? ... Expiration of the federal estate tax law created new capital gains tax liability

Creating an "Online Estate Plan" ... When you create a will or a trust, you list accounts, assets and important papers. But if you fail to include passwords and other log-in information for financial accounts and personal profiles, you're creating a problem down the road.

Detecting and Dealing with Financial Elder Abuse ... The elderly are particularly vulnerable to scams or to financial abuse. This can be very difficult to detect, but there are warning signs to watch for to help protect your elderly parents or other family members.

Disability Insurance vs. Long-Term Care Insurance ... It’s easy to get confused when a financial advisor starts talking about insurance options. This is especially true when explaining the differences between long-term care insurance and disability insurance.

Does Your Teenager Need a Will? ... Creating a will can put a young person in the mindset of someone who is going to have a successful financial life and has thoughtfully taken on adult responsibilities.

Estate Planning for Your Pets ... Does your estate plan include instructions regarding who will care for your pets after you die or if you become disabled or seriously ill?

Funding and Administering Your Trust ... Information on transferring assets to your trust and trust operations

Guidelines for the Individual Trustee ... Information for the individual trustee on duties and obligations in administering a trust.

How the (Temporary) Repeal of the Estate Tax Could Affect You ... The recent (and likely temporary) repeal of the federal estate tax carries at least one consequence that you may have overlooked

How to Maximize Federal Protection of Your Bank Accounts  ... Thanks to a recent FDIC rule, the owner of a living trust account is insured for up to $100,000 per beneficiary, provided three requirements are met.

Long-Term Care Trend: Baby Boomers Insuring Their Parents ... We are devoting an increasing amount of time to discussions of buying long-term care insurance for parents or exploring how to help Mom and Dad receive Medicaid benefits

The Perils of Joint Tenancy with Your Adult Children ... While you may achieve your goal of avoiding probate, your child’s debts, lawsuits or divorce can jeopardize your ownership.

Planning Challenges: Marriage, Divorce and Remarriage ... A recent Florida case illustrates one big reason why it’s a good idea to regularly update your estate plan.

Planning for Disability ... An ailing tycoon's after-death wishes are bungled by poor estate planning.

Post-Divorce Planning: Problem or Opportunity? ... After a divorce, sitting down with financial professionals (and still more lawyers) may be critical to ensuring that your estate plan benefits the right people.

Selecting the Guardian for a Minor Child ... Who would you like to be the guardians of your young children if you pass away?

Simple Will Causes Family Business an Expensive Problem ... A recent Florida case illustrates how a "simple will" led to a lawsuit and an expensive outcome for the son who inherited his dad's company.

Simple Wills: Why Can't I Just Use the Internet? ... Online "will kits" or computer programs that produce estate planning documents are popular because they're cheap. But saving money now can subject survivors to unnecessary legal fees to fix what often turn out to be useless documents.

Special Planning for Special Needs Children ... Creating a Special Needs Trust can help provide for a child's care – but maximizing the benefit may require communication and coordination.

Tax Traps for Non-Citizens, Expatriates ... When Congress passed the Heroes Earning Assistance and Relief Tax Act of 2008 (HEART Act), it had a significant impact on estate and gift taxes for non-citizens, non-resident aliens and former U.S. citizens.

Transitioning Responsibility for Your Aging Parents’ Finances ... Convincing senior parents to turn over management of their bank accounts can be more challenging than taking away their car keys

Trusts Made Simple ... The legal and financial issues associated with trusts can at times feel overwhelming; to help distill some of those arcane concepts to an easily understood level, this article will provide a simple illustration for some of the concepts that we apply regularly during the estate planning process.

Unauthorized Practice of Law: Ohio "Trust Mill" Fined $6.4 Million ... Beware of non-lawyers who try to scare you into taking unnecessary action

Understanding Prenuptial Agreements ... There are two types of nuptial agreements: prenuptial (before the marriage ceremony) and postnuptial (after).

Using a Creditor-Proof IRA Trust to Protect Your Beneficiaries ... An IRA trust is the only sure bet when it comes to protecting inherited IRAs

What Kind of Person Should Be Your Trustee? ... Regardless of whom you choose, the basic qualities of a good trustee are the same: integrity, good judgment, and objectivity.

Who Will Run Your Business After You're Gone? ... Think about what you want to have happen to your businesses after you’re gone, and consider what might happen if you don't start to make some important choices now.

Your Estate Plan ... Information on estate planning tools and documents.