There are good reasons why people want their estates to avoid probate, and a lot of ways to do it.
Legacy and Estate Planning
While the number of older Americans with wills has been dropping in recent years, that doesn’t mean you should forego this legal document.
These vacation homes may also comprise a significant portion of the family’s wealth. Therefore, it’s understandable that homeowners want to pass their properties and family traditions to future generations.
The first step in getting your affairs in order is to gather up all your important personal, financial and legal information, so you can arrange it in a format that will benefit you now and your loved ones later.
Trust funds are an important estate planning tool. They can protect your assets while you’re alive and help ensure that you leave money to your children or other loved ones after you die.
What Is Residuary Estate?
To get power of attorney (POA), the person granting you that power must name you as the agent to have the powers specified in the POA document. It must be signed by the giver while s/he is sound of mind.
In 2017, Congress doubled the exemption starting in 2018, and the amount will continue to rise with inflation through 2025. This expansion helped reduce the number of taxable estates to about 1,300 for returns filed in 2020 from about 5,200 in 2017, according to the latest IRS data.
The rapid rise in circulation and growing popularity of cryptocurrencies is prompting attorneys and estate planners to adjust, as digital assets are inherited through wills, trusts and estates, according to experts who warn of the danger of lost or misappropriated assets.
It’s hard for a family to recuperate when the patriarchs and matriarchs have gone to glory, leaving a battle for who will carry the family’s leadership role and manage the family’s transition of wealth.