Make sure that important documents are easily accessible to those who will need them.[/caption]
Among other things, an estate plan helps to distribute your assets when you pass away. If your children are under 18 at the time of your death, you can name your chosen guardian in your estate plan. Sometimes, all you need is a simple will, however, if your life and finances are complicated, then your estate planning will most likely also be complicated.
If you have done some estate planning in the past, it is important to keep your documents up to date. Adoptions, births, marriages, divorces, and other life changes can require updates to your estate plan.
Estate planning documents are very important, and should be carefully safeguarded. It is very important that the individuals you name to handle your legal affairs know where you keep the original documents. Often, it is helpful to provide copies and instructions to those individuals in advance.
Many people do not know that many travel and credit-card programs allow customers to pass on their frequent flier miles and points to heirs. However, it is not an easy process, according to an article in the Chicago Tribune.
The average American household has signed up for almost 20 programs. U.S. households earned slightly over $600 a year of points and miles, studies show. Customers who wish to bequeath their points to beneficiaries should first decide whether to include them in a will. Furthermore, it is best to ensure that your executor knows how to access your account number and email address associated with the loyalty program. You should always obtain the help of an experienced lawyer in order to create an effective and enforceable will.
All the rules and regulations can make point transfers complicated. In one case, the airlines needed a copy of the deceased’s death certificate and a letter from the executor. Other loyalty programs can have even more restrictions. For example, the Marriott Rewards program allows point transfers only to spouses or domestic partners. Hilton Honors points expire after a year of inactivity.
The act of passing on the family home is no longer as simple as just handing over the deed to your children. According to Smart Money magazine, “there are nearly a dozen ways to give a home to your child. And a couple are tax-free.” Yet to make this kind of exchange or transfer possible, it cannot be done last minute, and definitely needs to happen before you are no longer able to handle your affairs. “In order for the transaction to work properly,” according to Smart Money, “you’ve got to plan ahead.” The most important first step of planning is to hire an estate planning attorney to begin the complicated process.
According to CNN Money Magazine, the federal estate tax exemption, the amount you may leave to heirs free of federal tax, is permanently set at $5 million, indexed for inflation. In 2013, “estates under $5.25 million are exempt from the tax. Amounts above that are taxed up to a top rate of 40 percent.” Rather than gifting the home to your children while you are still living there, states Smart Money, it is much better to stay in your home until you die, providing that your home is below the estate-tax exemption ($5.25 million). “Even if you pay a market-rate rent to your child, the IRS might argue the home's full date-of-death value still belongs in your taxable estate.” This could leave your children with a higher tax burden than you intended.
When you are ready to think about your financial future and what it means for your family, drawing up an estate plan is essential. It is a complicated process with plenty of room for mistakes and omissions, and hiring the help of a qualified estate planning attorney is important. As you begin to think about your estate plan, one major aspect is long-term care planning, which may be necessary for potential future illness or disability. The National Clearinghouse for Long Term Care Information defines long-term care (LTC) as “a range of services and supports you may need to meet your health or personal needs over a long period of time.” The Clearinghouse was developed by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to help Americans get a grip on what it means, and to help families get started—but again, no website or information bank is a substitute for an estate planning attorney.
According to the Clearinghouse, “almost 70 percent of people over 65 need LTC.” In 2008, that was 21 million people in America. Many people put off planning because “they do not want to think about a time when they might need it.” However, putting it off can leave you without the LTC services you need and leave your family in a difficult situation. When you begin to plan, according to the Clearinghouse, there are some major considerations to make. You cannot predict how much money you will need, or what type of care you will require, but you can make educated guesses based on personal factors, housing considerations, and assistive technology.
Many people avoid estate planning because they feel it is either not for them—perhaps only for the wealthy—or because it seems too morbid a task to undertake early in life. Yet estate planning is not just for the rich, and it is never too early to begin planning for the future. In fact, many experts think that estate planning should begin before marriage, before kids. The earliest form of estate planning can be considered to be obtaining a prenup before marriage. According to the AARP Magazine, “a prenuptial agreement… is a legal contract, between you and your spouse-to-be, setting forth what will happen to the money when you die or divorce.” Having one, even at the beginning of a healthy, young marriage, can save headache not only for you and your spouse but for your children as well when it comes to estate planning.
The idea of the fiscal-cliff has taken over the country with an increasing intensity about whether or not the deficit and debt will be reduced quickly enough. Many people fear, however, that this decision will be made without consideration for our retirees, veterans, elderly and disabled citizens.
The fear is that the long-term care costs will knock many people off of their own fiscal cliff. Congress has been surrounded by industry lobbyists that have been liberally dispensing their generosity to Congressmen for the last few months. These lobbyists have also been assembling a campaign to have the friendly congressmen dismantle the social and medical safety nets that are currently available to senior, veterans and disabled citizens through the federal Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid and VA programs.
There is plenty of legal jargon when it comes to estate planning, and the difference between a trust and a will is often confused. A will, according to CNN Money Magazine, “governs the distribution of nearly everything in your estate.” A trust, on the other hand, deals with specific assets, “such as life insurance, or a piece of property.” While the idea of drawing up a trust may seem like something that is only necessary for very wealthy families or real estate magnates, that’s not so. According to a different CNN Money Magazine article, a trust is useful if your family has a net worth of at least $100,000 and meet one of the following conditions:
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