Let’s Start Planning Your Future Today
Whether you need to create a simple Will, protect your assets, or plan for your business, our team is here to help.
Schedule Your Free Consulation06
Mar
Planning Opportunities Available to Affluent Families
With the $5. 12 million per person federal tax exemption ($10. 24 million for married couples), most of the estate planning “talk” these days has been on the planning opportunities available to wealthy families. However, the need for estate planning affects everyone! According to a...
View MoreCategory: Estate Planning
06
Mar
70 percent of intergenerational wealth transfers fail
Recently, a Forbes article claimed that “70% of intergenerational wealth transfers fail. ” This conclusion was reached in a new Williams Group study examining the long-term effects of wealth transfers in 3,250 families. According to the study, “Failure” means situations where the...
View MoreCategory: Estate Planning
06
Mar
Pre-Need Funeral Contracts — What You Need to Know
Most, if not all, funeral homes offer pre-need funeral arrangements. Pre-need simply means you pay for your funeral arrangements in advance. The allure of the pre-need arrangement is the sense of security it provides to those who wish to leave as little of a burden as possible on...
View MoreCategory: Estate Planning
06
Mar
Financial Power of Attorney
As you begin the process of estate planning, one of the considerations you should make it who you would like to handle your affairs and make decisions on your behalf if you become unable to do so for yourself. Some of the tools available to do this include living wills and variou...
View MoreCategory: Estate Planning
06
Mar
Grantor Trusts
Why should I want a “Grantor Trust” ? A Grantor Trust is a Trust that is ignored for tax purposes. Back when Federal Income Tax Rates were much higher, wealthy individuals would establish many trusts for their descendants to push income in to the lower brackets. The t...
View MoreCategory: Estate Planning
06
Mar
What are Conservation Easements?
What would a conservation easement do for me? The conservation easement is an agreement that permanently restricts the future development or use of your land. You may do this to preserve your land and maintain it in its current condition so that it is preserved for future generat...
View MoreCategory: Estate Planning
06
Mar
Donating Your Body to Medicine
As part of your estate plan, you may want to leave instructions in your will to your loved ones to donate your body to medicine. There are many important reasons to donate your body to medicine. Your donation can be used to: Teach medical students about the human body Allow surg...
View MoreCategory: Estate Planning
06
Mar
Do I have to file Gift Tax returns for the gifts to my Insurance Trust?
Filing a gift tax return for an ILIT, even if not technically required because all gifts are below the annual exclusion, is a good idea. It starts the statute of limitations for an audit of the gift. It allows you to decide affirmatively whether GST exemption is allocated. The GS...
View MoreCategory: Estate Planning
06
Mar
No Super Committee Action: Now What?
Now that the so-called ‘super committee' failed to agree on spending cuts and/or revenue gains to reduce the deficit, what’s next? What does this mean for the estate and gift tax law? Under the law that created the super committee, their failure to act means tha...
View MoreCategory: Estate Planning
06
Mar
Conduit Share versus Accumulation Share: Difficult Choices, Important Consequences
This article originally appeared in the May 2009 issue of Gray Matters (Section Vol. 13, No. 4), a publication of the North Carolina Bar Association Elder Law Section. Once a decision has been made to leave tax qualified assets such as IRAs, 401(k)s or other tax qualified accoun...
View MoreCategories: Elder Law Estate Planning
