Top Estate Planning Tips You Need To Know

Written by Posted On Monday, 07 May 2018 07:01

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No matter how large or how small your estate is, if you want to ensure that the right people inherit your assets you’ll need to start crafting together an effective estate plan if you haven’t already.

A good plan will help ensure that your assets go to the people you want them to while also enabling them to pay less taxes.

If you pass away without leaving a will, the law of the state in which you reside will then determine who receives your assets upon your death. If you pass away single and without children, for example, most state laws dictate that your estate will go either to your siblings or to your parents. 

Here are the top estate planning tips  you need to know: 

Put Together An Estate Planning Team

Fundamentally, one of the very best things you can do in regards to estate planning will be to seek the assistance of experts. You can do this by putting together an estate planning team consisting of those experts.

The first expert you will need is an estate planning attorney who can help to create your trusts and wills, while also making sure that your entire estate plan is in accordance with the state and federal laws.

Next, you’ll need a financial advisor knowledgeable in estate planning who can help you to design your investment portfolio for your assets.

Finally, you’ll also need a tax professional to help reduce the amount of taxes your beneficiaries will end up paying.

Write A Will

A will gives you the chance to outright declare who receives what after you pass away and is a critical component  of determining who receives what.

In fact, without leaving an official will, the government will determine how your assets are split up. This includes both financial and non-financial assets, such as vehicles or jewelry, for instance.

For these reasons, writing a will definitely be worth your time if you truly care about where your assets end up.

Use Insurance To Reduce Taxes

You may understandably be concerned about the high taxes your beneficiaries may have to end up paying. They can certainly lose a large percentage of the assets they inherit to both the income tax and the estate tax.

One of the best and simplest ways to reduce taxes for your beneficiaries will be to get life insurance. You can specifically get a life insurance plan that covers the amount your beneficiaries will be expected to pay in taxes.

Life insurance proceeds paid to beneficiaries are not taxable, so if the plan covers the value of the assets, your beneficiaries will not need to owe any taxes to the government.

Estate Planning Tips You Need To Know

Estate planning is definitely a fragile subject matter, but it’s something that you will need to attend to if you care about where your assets end up going after your death.

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