Creating a proper estate plan involves making several important decisions and following the changes in federal and state law. We work together with your estate planning attorney to ensure the right plans are in place for you.

Key Estate Planning Questions

When creating a comprehensive estate plan, you may want to ask yourself some of the following questions:

Do you have a revocable living trust? A will? Advance health care directives and durable powers of attorney? Are all of your assets titled appropriately, whether in the name of your trust or otherwise? Are your beneficiaries designated in the way that preserves your intentions

IRA Planning

The SECURE Act requires that most non-spouse beneficiaries withdraw all the funds from the traditional IRAs they inherit within ten years. This can lead to higher income taxes for your beneficiaries. We can help you plan to mitigate that tax impact and potentially transfer more wealth to your beneficiaries.

Upon Your Passing

Your loved ones will need a partner who can help them navigate what happens upon your passing. We work together with your tax professional, estate planning attorney, and successor trustees to help ensure your assets are transferred smoothly and your loved ones have peace of mind.

Minimizing Estate Tax

If your estate is subject to estate taxes, there are many tools that you can consider to help plan and minimize the tax impact and maximize the wealth transfer to your loved ones. These can include:

• Lifetime giving to family, maximizing the use of the annual gift tax exclusion
• Grantor Retained Annuity Trusts (GRATs)
• Charitable Giving Strategies, including:
  • Lifetime charitable giving
  • Bequests to charities
  • Charitable Remainder Annuity Trusts (CRATs)
  • Charitable Lead Trusts (CLTs)
  • Retained Life Estates
• Family Limited Partnerships (FLPs)
• Intentionally Defective Grantor Trusts (IDGTs)
• Qualified Personal Residence Trusts (QPRTs)
• Irrevocable Life Insurance Trusts (ILITs)
• Self-Canceling Installment Notes (SCINs)
• Private Annuities

We can work with your estate planning attorney and tax professional to assess the financial impact of each of these strategies.