Careful estate and gift planning helps you ensure that the assets you have accumulated continue to benefit the people and causes that are most important to you. Without such planning, your estate may be severely diminished by federal and state taxes, with the remainder distributed in ways you might not have chosen.
Our approach to estate and gift planning pays particular attention to the stream of beneficiaries and potential tax consequences. We recommend strategies for transferring more to your heirs while providing financial advantages to you for your lifetime.
To help you develop an effective plan, we:
Identify your taxable estate by reviewing you assets, liabilities, life insurance policies, retirement plans, and employer-provided benefits.
Prepare or review existing trust and will structures. We analyze ownership of assets and beneficiary designations in order to develop or adjust your plan so that it is focused on your individual objectives.
Recommend vehicles for minimizing estate/gift taxes and protecting your assets, such as:
- Disclaimers
- Grantor Retained Annuity or Uni-Trusts
- Charitable Lead or Remainder Trusts
- Credit Shelter Trusts
- Irrevocable Life Insurance Trusts
- Family Partnerships
- Qualified Personal Residence Trusts
- Interfamily Installment Sales
- Sales to Grantor Trusts
- Revocable Trusts
Develop a program for making lifetime gifts to children, grandchildren, and/or charities that minimizes the amount of your estate which is subject to tax while preserving enough resources for you to remain financially self-sufficient and in control.
Review power of attorney and health care proxies in light of changing personal circumstances to make sure your plan stays in line with your objectives.
