After the devastation of accepting the loss of a loved one subsides, it can be challenging to determine how to best process. Unless you have navigated this process before, performing the various tasks asked of an executor can seem overwhelming.
As a result, this article reviews some pieces of advice that will make the selection of an executor easier.
# 1 – Understand the Role of an Executor
An appellate court recently reversed in part and affirmed in part the judgment of the Court of Appeals concerning a decision by the Comptroller of the Treasury to include the value of a marital trust in an estate in a tax assessment. The trust contained qualified terminable interest property that was reported on the deceased individual’s federal tax return but was excluded from the estate’s Maryland estate tax return. The Court of Special Appeals held that the Comptroller lacked the authority to tax the trust assets as part of the Maryland estate. The appellate court, however, found that after the death of the deceased person’s spouse, the qualified trust assets were transferred on her death and that the transfer of the property was subject to Maryland estate tax.
A marital trust is a particular type of irrevocable trust that is designed to hold a deceased spouse’s assets that are greater than the amount capable of being protected from death taxes. Rather than be taxed at the time of the death of the first spouse to pass away, assets are not taxed until the second spouse dies. As a result, if the second spouse has limited financial means, marital trusts can play an invaluable role.
The Three Types of Marital Trusts
The Vermont Supreme Court recently heard the case of In re Peter Val Preda Trusts, which introduced some important estate planning issues that all individuals interested in creating trusts should understand.
Both the individual who created the trust as well as his wife were deceased. In June 2018, the petitioners requested the Georgia probate division to remove the respondent as the individual family trustee of the trustee and appoint the petitioner’s wife as the respondent’s successor.
The basis for removing the trustee was that the petitioner claimed the removal would improve how the trust was administered because the petitioner and respondent did not communicate with one another and that the respondent had failed to pay attention to investments of the trust.
Creating a living will is one of the areas of the estate planning that many people overlook. These documents, which are also sometimes referred to as advance health care directives, describe what types of life-prolonging measure an individual would like if they are placed on life support.
Among other reasons why these documents are overlooked is that making decisions about these issues can be emotionally difficult for people. If you have decided to finally take the valuable step of creating a living will, it is a wise idea to ask yourself some critical questions.
The Worth of Creating a Living Wills
Following a diagnosis of Alzheimer’s, you and your loved one will end up facing a number of serious challenges.
For one, there are a number of difficult emotions including fear and uncertainty about what the future holds. Second, there are a number of complex issues involving estate planning.
As a result, this article reviews some important estate planning tips that you should remember following an Alzheimer’s diagnosis of a loved one.
The retirement process is full of challenges. One of the best ways to make sure that you navigate this process successfully is to anticipate the various obstacles that lie ahead of you. The implementation of strategies to avoid or limit the severity of obstacles that do arise should be included in a retirement plan.
The purpose of this article is to review some of the most common mistakes that you should anticipate as you consider and begin the creation of a retirement plan.
# 1 – Failure to Create a Strategy at All
There are few things as painful in life as the death of a spouse. In addition to weathering the devastating emotions like loneliness and sadness that accompany this process, it is still important to plan for your future as a widow or widower.
Unfortunately in some situations, the surviving spouse might have even been left out of financial and estate planning decisions that were made before death.
This article reviews some of the important strategies that you should remember when it comes to estate planning and the death of a spouse.
When it comes to preparation for retirement, an overwhelming number of American do not feel secure in their assets. Approximately only one in five Americans believe they have enough for retirement. This means that almost 50% of Americans have little or no confidence in their retirement savings.
The Role of the SECURE Act
The House of Representatives passed the Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement Act (SECURE) in May, 2019. The purpose of this act was to increase retirement savings. The Act then stalled in the Senate, which makes the future of this body of legislation uncertain.
There are many parents who have questioned how to create the best possible estate plan for their children. Some parents even make mistakes about how beneficiaries are able to access assets. As a result, this article reviews some important advice that should be followed by parents with young children.
# 1 – Create a Living Document
While it might not seem like it would directly help your children, one of the best steps to take is to make sure that your own living documents are written.
The amount of attention as well as the volume of digital currencies like Bitcoin is at an all time high.
Digital currency is just one of several trends away from traditional assets and towards digital elements. While digital currency has made business in some senses much easier, digital currency also present some challenges.
For one, when the owners of digital currency die or become incapacitated, digital currencies can make the transfer of assets much more complex. This is because traditional estate planning documents were not designed to address the numerous challenges that can arise with digital currency.
