Estate Planning
No matter your net worth, it is important to have a basic estate plan in place. Such a plan ensures that your family and financial goals are met after you die. Your ability to meet the long-term needs of your loved ones can be greatly enhanced by the proper use of trusts and gifting strategies, and also by timely and well thought-out estate planning techniques.
Estate planning varies from person to person, but some of the typical situations encountered and techniques we use include:
- Marital deduction planning – QTIP and QDOT trusts, second spouse, etc.
- The use and techniques of life insurance, including trusts.
- Use of irrevocable and revocable trusts and other will substitutes.
- Gifting to minors and other family members by the use of uniform transfers or gifts to minors accounts, education trusts, etc.
- Generation-skipping transfer issues.
- Transferring the closely held business interest to family members via gift strategies, sales techniques and more.
- Use of family partnerships and family S corporations.
- Lowering of gift tax costs by the use of GRATs and GRUTs.
- Protection of assets from creditors.
- Charitable gift planning.
Contacts:
Kevin Ryan, CPA, CVA
Daniel J. Berry, CPA, JD, LL.M.