ESTATE PLANNING

What are the duties of an executor?

A key decision you must make when drafting your estate plan is who to appoint as the executor. In a nutshell, an executor (called a “personal representative” in some states) is the person who…

Estate planning for residential real estate with a qualified personal residence trust

Do you own your principal residence? If so, you’re likely aware that you can benefit from the home’s build-up in equity, realize current tax breaks and pocket a sizable tax-exempt gain when you sell…

Filing a joint tax return for the year of a spouse’s death can be beneficial

Surviving spouses are faced with many financial and tax-related decisions. One critical issue to consider is whether to file a joint or separate tax return for the year of the spouse’s death. Timing of…

Undoing an irrevocable life insurance trust is possible

Life insurance can be a powerful estate planning tool. Indeed, it creates an instant source of wealth and liquidity to meet your family’s financial needs after you’re gone. And to shield the proceeds from…

If you’ve inherited an IRA, you need to know about these new final IRS regulations

A tax law change in 2019 essentially ended “stretch IRAs” by requiring most beneficiaries of inherited IRAs (other than a spouse) to withdraw all of the funds within 10 years. Since then, there’s been…

A power of appointment can provide estate planning flexibility

A difficult aspect of planning your estate is taking into account your family members’ needs after your death. Indeed, after you’re gone, events may transpire that you hadn’t anticipated or couldn’t have reasonably foreseen….

A QDRO can ease the transfer of retirement plan assets in a divorce

Getting divorced and dividing up assets is no easy matter. At least you can sell a house, a car or certain other possessions and distribute the proceeds to the two ex-spouses according to ownership…

Contributing to a Roth 401(k) plan may help achieve estate planning goals

When it comes to your 401(k) plan, you may have a choice to make regarding contributions. Should you make contributions on a pre-tax (traditional) basis or on an after-tax (Roth) basis? The right answer…

Provide for multiple generations using a dynasty trust

When creating estate plans, people generally take their children and grandchildren into consideration and plan accordingly. For those who would like to plan beyond the next two generations, using a dynasty trust may be…

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