As with estate planning for humans, creating a pet trust is designed to give owners peace of mind. To ensure that pets will be cared for in accordance with an owner’s wishes, owners should be sure to definitively detail their pet’s standard of living and nutritional and health care. Although…
“Young people may be eager to marry for love, but older couples are more practical and worry about paying the bills,” says Pepper Schwartz, professor of sociology at the University of Washington. These days, more and more Americans are meeting new loves or (finally) their true loves later in life.…
Worried about your adult children blowing through their inheritance? Two strategies can help holders of individual retirement accounts curb an heir’s impulse to “cash out.” You may have many assets to leave behind for your heirs. However, an IRA is unique enough to be easily squandered in taxes, as MarketWatch…
What follows are issues to consider, and, in those rare cases where a transfer can make sense, how to do it the right way. Are you thinking about handing over the family home to your loved ones early? Proceed with caution. Although the hand-off can be a blessing to some,…
Reverse mortgages, which allow homeowners 62 and older to borrow money against the value of their homes that need not be paid back until they move out or die, have long posed pitfalls for older borrowers. Although a reverse mortgage has some advantages, such as offering a means of cash…
One of the key advantages of a portability-based estate plan over a credit shelter trust-based estate plan is that portability allows the married couple to obtain a second step up in basis upon the death of the second spouse. With the new ability to minimize estate taxation, known as “portability,”…
“This time it’s not about the beginning of life or how babies are made. It’s about the end of life — yours — and the many issues and decisions that will confront you and your children.” Back when the kids were kids, it seemed like the “birds and the bees”…
NING, Ding, Grat. Ilit, Crat, Crut, Qtip. So what are these oddly named trusts and what do people who need them need to know? Ever been to a place where you don't understand the language? Learning a new language is no easy task. At least when it comes to French…
When it comes to estate planning, one of the primary goals is to transfer as much of a person's assets to their intended beneficiaries at the lowest cost or, in other words, by paying the least amount of tax. Giving your assets to your heirs is all about timing. When…
Under the President’s plan, in 2018 the tax would revert to the rates that were in effect in 2009. Budget buzz is spreading across Capitol Hill. For example, did you know that President Obama's proposed budget is seeking a reduction of the estate tax exemption back to $3.5 million? Just…