We practice law in the state of New Jersey. People who live here are well aware of the fact that we pay more than our fair share of taxes, and as you may imagine, New Jersey inheritance laws not favorable when it comes to death taxes.Though it may not sound fair since your estate is comprised of assets that you were able to retain after paying taxes all of your life, there are death taxes. We have a federal estate tax that is applicable in all 50 states. This death tax carries a 40 percent … [Read more...]
Three Things You Didn’t Know About a Living Trust
A lot of people look past the possibility of creating a trust when they are thinking about estate planning, because they assume that trusts are only useful for people who are multimillionaires. To these individuals, it seems like a last will is the only logical estate planning document to use.In reality, there are trusts that are used by very wealthy people who are exposed to estate taxes, but there are other types of trusts that can be quite beneficial for people who are not among the … [Read more...]
Parents: Have You Considered Child Guardianship?
The process of estate planning is something that people often choose not to think about. There is no doubt that passing away is going to be on the bottom of your to do list, but as they say, death and taxes are the two eventualities that you simply cannot get around.There was a study conducted recently by a legal website that is quite telling with regard to the trend toward unpreparedness among American adults. This study questioned people of various different age groups. It found that 64 … [Read more...]
Revocable Living Trusts & Death Taxes
Accumulating wealth can be challenging, and you may breathe a sigh of relief when you find that you will be able to make things easier for your loved ones after you are gone. This is well and good, but you do have to be aware of the potential impact of estate taxes.In this blog post, we will look at the death taxes that can come into play, and we will also pass along some important information about taxation and revocable living trusts. Federal Estate Tax There is a federal estate tax in … [Read more...]
Understand Your Options When You Are Creating a Trust
If you are thinking about creating a trust, you may not fully understand the fact that there are many different options. The right trust for you will depend upon your objectives, your financial situation, and your family dynamic.In this blog post, we will look at a number of different types of trusts that serve varying different purposes. Wealth Preservation Trusts If you have been able to accumulate a significant amount of wealth, you are fortunate on the one hand. On the other hand, there is … [Read more...]
Creating a Will: Can You Go It Alone?
If you are thinking about creating a will all by yourself without any legal assistance, you should understand some facts.First, we should confront the obvious. Since you are reading this on an estate planning attorney's website, your first thought would be that we are not going to be objective on the subject. In fact, we are required to pass along truthful information, and we would do so even if we were not.Under the laws of the state of New Jersey, you do not have to be an attorney to … [Read more...]
Does My Spouse Get Everything If I Don’t Have a Will or Trust?
Many people are remiss when it comes to estate planning. You may naturally assume that younger adults are often going to be unprepared, and this is the case.A significant majority of people who are in their thirties and forties are going through life without any estate planning documents, and in many cases, they are putting immediate family members at risk.It would be logical to assume that people start to take estate planning more seriously as they get older, and this is true to some … [Read more...]
Legacy Planning: Money Isn’t the Only Thing
Money is important, and the inheritances that you leave to your loved ones can provide them with opportunities and an added sense of security. Without question, the proper facilitation of asset transfers is a large part of what legacy planning is all about.We practice law in the state of New Jersey. You have to be very concerned about legacy preservation as a resident of the Garden State. This is because of the taxation that we have here in New Jersey.Everyone around the country has to be … [Read more...]
Can My Surviving Spouse Use My Estate Tax Exclusion?
There is a federal estate tax credit or exclusion. This is the threshold that divides the taxable portion of your estate from the part that is exempt from taxation. At the time of this writing late in 2015, the federal estate tax exclusion stands at $5.43 million.Since the end of the year is right around the corner, the Internal Revenue Service has announced some updated figures for 2016. Next year, an inflation adjustment will be added to the federal estate tax exclusion, bringing it up to … [Read more...]
Schedule an Estate Plan Review in 2016
When a new year starts to come into focus, you may take stock of the responsibilities that you have been placing on the back burner, because a sense of renewal is in the air. With this in mind, we would like to emphasize the value of an estate plan review. It's Not a One Time Event When you work with an estate planning attorney to devise your initial estate plan, the plan will be constructed based on your life situation at that time. The relevant laws that are in place at the time of the … [Read more...]
