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Advanced Estate Planning

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35 years of experience taught us how to do it right.

Before. During. After.

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GET IT DONE BEFORE YOU NEED IT.

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We realize nobody wants to think about his own death. Just know that the plans you make today can impact multiple generations of your loved ones hereafter. Let our experience be your guide to custom-designing an estate plan that can fulfil your legacy goals without unnecessary complexity, cost or conflict of interest.

BASIC PLANNING:

  • Avoid unnecessary estate planning expenses, gimmicks and sales pitches.
  • Plan for ease of administration without court costs or unnecessary delays.
  • Consider the simplicity and flexibility of "disclaimer" planning.
    Maintain the privacy of your family's financial affairs.
  • Provide income for a surviving spouse.

ADVANCED PLANNING:

  • Evaluate the favorable laws of other states that may be available to you.
  • Evaluate the pros and cons of offshore trusts if necessary.
  • Consider the potential benefits of a Family Limited Partnership.
  • Understand the option of "Flight Provisions" and "Trust Protectors".
  • Be aware of the tax rates that apply to trust income and distributions.
  • Consider the strategic use of lifetime gift exemptions.
  • Control the use of estate assets over multiple generations.
  • Create incentives for college education.
  • Mitigate spendthrift tendencies of future beneficiaries.
  • Reduce or eliminate estate taxes.
  • Dispose of or retain family business interests.
  • Protect estate assets from creditors, lawsuits and divorcing spouses.
  • Provide lasting care for a loved one with special needs
  • Establish a charitable foundation that makes a lasting difference.

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MAINTAIN IT DURING YOUR LIFETIME

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Once a Will or Trust is signed, it often ends up in a drawer somewhere - out of sight and out of mind. But life goes on; and we know from first-hand experience that having an outdated estate plan can be worse than having no plan at all.

BASIC MAINTENANCE:

  • Deaths, marriages, divorces and births can change everything. Review your plan periodically to make sure an ex-spouse doesn’t inadvertently inherit property that was intended for a child or grandchild.
  • Remember, a Last Will & Testament should not be used to control jointly held accounts, the family home, IRAs, life insurance, annuities, and 401(k) or other retirement plan funds.
  • Remember, a Trust will not control the inheritance of anything unless it is properly transferred into the Trust first.
  • Update your legal documents as necessary after relocating to another state.
  • Your power of attorney and health care documents must keep pace with changes in state and federal laws for your family to avoid being denied access to your financial accounts and medical information during a medical emergency.
  • Don’t forget about Guardianship provisions for young children.

ADVANCED MAINTENANCE: 

  • Monitor changes in federal and state laws and adjust your plan according.
  • Evaluate the tax implications of undistributed trust income and file the appropriate tax returns annually.
  • Maintain tax compliance with charitable trust distributions.
  • Maintain the title to business interests appropriately to coordinate with your estate plan.
  • Establish Buy-Sell or Buy-Out Plans to assure the continuity or sale of the family business.
  • Acquire and title new assets in a manner that is consistent with your estate plan.
  • Make sure all strategic sale transactions between entities occur before year-end.
  • Maintain willingness and consent of successor trustees and Trust Protectors. 

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WE WILL BE THERE AFTER YOU’RE GONE

(at your advance request - and at no charge). ________________________________________________________________________

Emotions and vulnerability collide when a loved one dies. Grieving family members are often scrambling to locate assets and decipher legal documents while everyone around them is offering conflicting advice about what to do next. The firm you trusted to help create your estate plan during your lifetime can be available to help your family members administer it in your absence - and we will do it at NO charge at your advance request.

BASIC ADMINISTRATION:

  • Beware of the many sources of conflicting advice that will appear at this time.
  • Understand the various deadlines for depositing legal documents with the court, filing necessary tax returns and making qualified disclaimers - if necessary.
  • Know the requirements for handling Social Security.

ADVANCED PLANNING:

  • Establish new trust accounts for survivors pursuant to the estate plan directives.
  • Strategically and tax efficiently roll-over IRAs and retirement funds to beneficiaries.
  • File for proceeds from insurance and annuity companies and beware of the sales pitches that will accompany their pay-out options.
  • Implement estate plan provisions to mitigate any state and federal taxes.
  • Mediate family confusion over “who gets what” or “what he intended”.

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SIMPLIFIED ESTATE TRANSITION WITH

YOUR PERSONAL FINANCIAL WEBSITE ________________________________________________

One of the most valuable tools your heirs can have at this time is access to your Personal Financial Website and Document Vault.

This is the web-based financial dashboard that we utilized during your lifetime to monitor all of your accounts, illustrate your financial plan, review your investment performance and organize your important documents.

If anything happens to you, your appointed family members will have immediate, 24/7 access to see everything you own, wherever it may be located, held or invested, all on one easy-to-navigate dashboard, with updated values and transaction histories.

PLUS: Your private document vault has a secure, unlimited storage capacity for you to maintain copies of everything your family members need to get ahold of at a moment’s notice.

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Let our experience be your guide 

For more information, contact us today!

1-800-585-9888

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