Wills

Recognizing the Dangers Associated with Designated Beneficiaries and Transfer on Death Accounts

Published on: July 26, 2021 | by Ettinger Law Firm

Transfer on death accounts pass on assets to an appointed beneficiary when the account holder passes away. When you establish a “transfer on death” account, assets pass directly to beneficiaries at the time of the account owner’s death. While assignments of this kind can help to avoid probate, account titling should be coordinated with the account owner’s death, especially when larger accounts and estates are involved.

While simply titling an account, “transfer on death”, and adding a beneficiary might seem like a good idea, this is not always the case. Transfer on death accounts can easily be set up on investment accounts. The primary benefit to these accounts is that they can easily be transferred to a beneficiary. Another advantage is that beneficiaries can be revised more easily than amending a trust. It’s important to understand, however, that titling an account “transfer on death” does not resolve all of your estate planning needs. Various mistakes can occur with any type of beneficiary designation. As a result, this article reviews some important details to consider if you plan on using a transfer on death account.

# 1 – Life Changes Must Be Addressed

Considering Using a Will vs. Trust in Your Estate Plan

Published on: July 10, 2021 | by Ettinger Law Firm

Many people were forced to think about how to adequately manage their estates in 2020. While a will and last testament was for many years the most common estate planning, trusts have grown in popularity. As part of a will, a person must specify how his or her properties should be distributed after that individual passes away, while family trusts are established for either a specific individual or a group of people who are not specifically named. This article reviews some valuable details you should understand in deciding whether a will, a trust, or both a will and trust are right for you.

Critical Differences between Trusts and Wills

While the critical differences with trusts and wills teal with the time when the assets are transferred, some of the other vital differences between trusts and wills include the following:

Utilizing Private Placement Life Insurance in Estate Planning

Published on: July 6, 2021 | by Ettinger Law Firm

As we proceed into 2021 and emerge from the COVID-19 pandemic, many fundamental aspects of daily living have been challenged. Among many lessons people learned from the pandemic, one of the most critical ones is the importance of asset protection. Private placement life insurance provides individuals with the opportunity to allocate alternative investments in a tax-efficient manner while creating efficient strategies that do not exist with other life insurance options. Various factors make it an ideal time to consider using private placement life insurance including high lifetime exemptions and attractive federal estate and income tax rates. This article reviews some critical details that you should consider about deciding whether private placement life insurance is right for you.

How Private Placement Life Insurance Functions

Private placement life insurance trusts are a special type of life insurance that has a high cash value compared to a low death benefit. To minimize fees, the life insurance aspect is kept as affordable as possible, which permits the cash value of the policy to drive death benefits. The purpose behind private placement life insurance trusts is to amass a substantial cash value within a life insurance policy to take advantage of the tax-free handling of income as well as gains from the underlying investments in the policy.

3 Tips about Using Life Insurance In Your Estate Plan

Published on: April 14, 2021 | by Ettinger Law Firm

Many people realize that life insurance can play a valuable role if someone unexpectedly passes away. What a much smaller group of people is that life insurance can play a critical role in estate planning because it can be utilized to provide liquidity when needed.

With adequate estate planning, insurance proceeds can then be used to pay for things like estate tax. In the hopes that you make the most of life insurance in your estate plan, this article reviews some critical details to remember about utilizing life insurance.

# 1 – Avoid Common Mistakes

2 Estate Planning Issues for Business Owners

Published on: April 12, 2021 | by Ettinger Law Firm

Business owners led hectic lives. Understandably, some things on business owner’s “To Do” lists end up getting delayed. Estate planning, however, should not be something that ends up postponed. Not only is estate planning critical for business owners, but some unique issues arise. This article reviews just some of the unique and nuanced issues that business owners often must navigate while estate planning.

# 1 – Unintentional PPP Borrower Change of Ownership

To respond to the adverse economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, the CARES Act was signed into law in March 2020. As part of the implementation, the Small Business Administration as well as the Department of Treasury implemented the PPP Program so lenders could loan money to both small and medium-sized businesses to maintain their payroll as well as hire workers who were laid off and cover applicable overhead. These loans are forgiven provided the proceeds are used in accordance with applicable laws.

5 Tips on Engaging in Successful Estate Planning

Published on: March 28, 2021 | by Ettinger Law Firm

The Covid-19 pandemic has placed an increased focus on legacy planning because it has highlighted the need to make sure that your estate plan is in order. Besides the fact that more people are realizing the value of adequate estate planning, other advantages like all-time high estate tax exemptions make this an attractive time to engage in estate planning, whether that means creating your plans or finalizing estate planning documents. This article reviews some helpful strategies you should follow to make the most of estate planning.

# 1 – Determine Your Net Worth

The best step to start estate planning is to assess your net worth. Fortunately, it’s often easy to quickly calculate your net worth by adding up the estimate of the value of all of your assets and then subtracting the total of your liabilities. The value of calculating your net worth is that after you’ve determined this value, you will need to assess if your estate will be liable for federal estate taxes. You should also determine if your estate could potentially be subject to inheritance tax.

4 Estate Planning Techniques to Consider During the Covid-19 Pandemic

Published on: March 18, 2021 | by Ettinger Law Firm

The pandemic has created substantial challenges for many people and disrupted countless facets of daily living. Low-interest rates and depressed asset values, however, have created an ideal situation for estate planning. If you’re interested in planning for the future, there are some unique estate planning strategies that you should consider utilizing. This article reviews just a few of the most potentially helpful techniques that you should consider using during the Covid-19 pandemic.

# 1 – Annual Gift Tax Exclusions

This amount refers to the amount that a person can give away each year without being subject to taxes. Currently, a person can pass $15,000 in assets tax-free to any person in any one year. This amount applies to how much can be given to one individual, which means that a person could make an unlimited number of gifts below this amount to various people without being subject to taxation.

3 Facts about Estate Planning Challenges After Mayberry

Published on: February 23, 2021 | by Ettinger Law Firm

In the 2020 case, In the Estate of Mayberry, a Texas court ruled that the common-law wife of a deceased individual who died interstate lacked standing to remove the deceased’s daughter as an independent administrator.

The court’s ruling was based on the perspective that the deceased’s daughter was not an “interested” party following a settlement agreement between the daughter and the deceased’s common-law wife to voluntarily release all of the daughter’s rights in the estate.

Under the terms of the agreement, the daughter agreed to accept $2,000 as “consideration” for the settlement and release of all claims to any part of the deceased individual’s estate. The daughter later argued that she did not release her right to receive an inheritance from the estate but had only released “claims” against the estate. The daughter argued that her right to receive an inheritance from the estate was not a claim against the estate.

4 Issues to Remember About “Black Sheeps” and Estate Planning

Published on: January 2, 2021 | by Ettinger Law Firm

Countless families have members who are black sheep. These individuals can end up influencing how the family passes on assets. Regardless of the situation, it is critical to evaluate and reflect on your beneficiary’s situation when it comes to estate planning. As a result, this article reviews some critical issues to consider about estate planning if you have a black sheep in your family.

# 1 – You Need Not Divide Your Assets Equally

Disinheriting a beneficiary is a more routine occurrence than many people think. There are various reasons why you might decide to disinherit a beneficiary that has little to nothing to do with that beneficiary’s lifestyle. Parents might decide to leave more assets to a special ended child. Other times, parents might have helped a house with something while the parent was alive and wants now to make sure that an equal amount of assets are passed to each child. Regardless of your reasons for disinheriting a beneficiary, it is a good idea to explain either in your estate documents in a separate document your intention for unequally dividing assets.

The Challenges and Advantages of Creating a Trust

Published on: December 15, 2019 | by Ettinger Law Firm

While trusts grow in their popularity and usage, some people still encounter difficulties in creating a trust. One problem that some clients face is banks and financial institutions who create challenges in funding a trust.

While this problem is not all that common, it is still helpful to understand why these challenges can arise. This article also reviews some of the benefits that people commonly realize through the creation of a trust.

Common Challenges involved with Trust Funding