The holidays are a great time to review the past year and make plans for the upcoming one. Part of those plans should be reviewing your Estate Plan and considering what, if any, steps you should take to help you achieve your goals. One of the easiest, but most overlooked, ways to do some quick planning is to take advantage of the annual per donee exclusion amount which can have a tremendous impact on reducing the estate without use of the applicable exclusion amount. Read on to learn more. … [Read more...] about Don’t Be a Turkey – Take Advantage of Your Annual Per Donee Exclusion Amount
Estate Planning
Should I Invest in a Pre-Paid Funeral Plan?
You would undoubtedly prefer to spare your loved ones from having to go through additional grief and stress following your own death. While you cannot entirely spare them from the emotional impact of your passing, you can spare them additional stress and anxiety by incorporating a funeral planning component into your estate plan. As part of that component, you may consider investing in a pre-paid funeral plan with a local funeral home. The estate planning attorneys at Augulis Law Firm discuss … [Read more...] about Should I Invest in a Pre-Paid Funeral Plan?
What Is an ILIT?
One of the first orders of business that you must address when you are planning your estate is the matter of potential taxation. There is a federal estate tax that high net worth people must contend with, and it can significantly erode the wealth that you are passing along to your loved ones. At the time of this writing in 2014, the amount of the federal estate tax credit or exclusion is $5.34 million. This is the amount that you could transfer to your heirs tax-free. If your estate exceeds … [Read more...] about What Is an ILIT?
Estate Planning for the Beginner
Although you probably understand the importance of having an estate plan in place, the prospect of creating that plan can be a bit daunting for the uninitiated. Estate planning incorporated a wide range of goals and objectives into one comprehensive plan. That plan may utilize numerous estate planning tools and strategies. All of that can be overwhelming. To help you feel more comfortable with the concept of estate planning, an estate planning attorney at Augulis Law Firm offers a list of top 10 … [Read more...] about Estate Planning for the Beginner
What Type of Life Insurance Do I Need?
For the vast majority of people, at least one life insurance policy is included in their estate plan. While life insurance can be a valuable estate planning tool, the key to getting the most out of your life insurance policy is knowing which type of insurance is right for you. Toward that end, the estate planning attorney's at Augulis Law Firm explain how to make the most of your life insurance. Understanding Which Type of Life Insurance You Need Life insurance is not all the same. The … [Read more...] about What Type of Life Insurance Do I Need?
How Can a QDOT Trust Protect My Spouse?
Mixed-Nativity Marriages in the U.S. American has long been referred to as a melting pot, and with good reason. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, 11.4 million married-couple households, or 21 percent of all married-couple households in America in 2011, had at least one spouse born in another country. About 13 percent (7.3 million) of households had two foreign-born spouses, and 7 percent (4.1 million) had one native-born and one foreign-born spouse. Of the couples with one native-born … [Read more...] about How Can a QDOT Trust Protect My Spouse?
Actors Receive Bequests From “Friend”
Exactly what the definition of a "friend" is may vary from person to person. Most individuals would say that you can't be friends with someone that you have never met (Manti Te'o and Lennay Kekua notwithstanding). Whatever your opinions on the matter may be, a man who passed away in Illinois last summer left behind everything that he owned to a pair of individuals that he considered to be his friends though he had never met them in person. He did see them frequently on the television … [Read more...] about Actors Receive Bequests From “Friend”
Alzheimer’s Induced Dementia Quite Common Among Seniors
A well constructed, comprehensive estate plan should take all the eventualities of aging into consideration. Unfortunately, one of these is the possibility of becoming incapacitated at some point in time. There are a number of different ways that an individual can become incapacitated as we all know, but there is one culprit that is extremely attention-getting when you look at the statistics. Alzheimer's disease strikes at a surprisingly high rate. One of the best resources online for … [Read more...] about Alzheimer’s Induced Dementia Quite Common Among Seniors
Is Your DIY will a Recipe for Disaster?
Despite the fact that everyone should have a Last Will and Testament, fewer than half of us actually do. Of those, many have wills that they put together on their own – either from scratch or by using various inexpensive toolkits or cheap downloadable forms from the internet. On the surface, it might seem that those wills would be as valid and effective as any other, and eminently more affordable than hiring an attorney to create the document. In reality, however, self-created wills often … [Read more...] about Is Your DIY will a Recipe for Disaster?
Challenging a Last Will
There are two sides to consider when you think about the subject of last will challenges. The first thought that may come to mind is that some disgruntled party is unwilling to accept the final wishes of a deceased individual. To prevent successful challenges when you know that there could be those who are not happy with your decisions you should explain your concerns to your estate planning attorney. He or she will gain an understanding of the situation and take this into consideration when … [Read more...] about Challenging a Last Will
