What is estate planning?
Estate planning is a process involving the counsel of professional advisors who are familiar with your goals and concerns, your assets and how they are owned, and your family structure. It can involve the services of a variety of professionals, including your lawyer, accountant, financial planner, life insurance advisor, banker and broker. Estate planning covers the transfer of property at death as well as a variety of other personal matters and may or may not involve tax planning. The core document most often associated with this process is your will. “Death and Taxes” Video This Video is a one-hour program from the respected PBS series, Inside the Law. This informative TV special was produced through a grant from the ACTEC Foundation. Please Note: Making this link available on this page does not constitute an endorsement of the foundation or the site or ACTEC by the ABA or the RPTE Section. Neither does it encourage viewers to access other portions of the website.
Estate planning is a process. It involves people, such as family, friends, and in many cases charitable organizations of your choice. It also involves the distribution of assets and various forms of ownership and title those assets take. Things to consider when planning your estate: • Incapacity-How your assets will be managed if you are unable to manage them. • Timing- When certain assets get transferred to others during your lifetime, at your death, or sometimes after you become incapacitated. • Beneficiaries-To whom those assets will pass. Estate planning also addresses your welfare and needs for your own personal health care if you are no longer able to care for yourself. Like many people, you may at first think estate planning is simply the writing of a will. However, if encompasses much more. Estate planning may involve tax, medical, and business planning. A will is one part of the planning process, however, it is likely that other documents are needed to fully address your estat
Most people do not like to think about their death or the death of their spouse or loved one. Many people simply ignore this fact of life and create potentially serious hardships for those they love. Because you do not know when you will die, it is important to plan ahead and describe in detail what you want to happen after your death. By doing the planning for your family, you can save them both money and additional stress. Estate planning is a process that involves your family, other individuals and in many cases charitable organizations that you choose. It involves what assets you have and how you hold title those assets. Estate planning also addresses your finances and health care if you are no longer able to care for yourself. Like many people, you may first think of estate planning as simply the writing of a will. However, it encompasses much more. As you will see, estate planning may involve financial, tax, medical and business planning. A will is simply one part of that plannin
A. It is a planning procedure that determines how someone’s assets, also known as their estate, will be distributed after that person dies. It might be as simple as signing a will, or it might be more complicated with living trusts, charitable remainder trusts, life insurance trusts, and other methods of avoiding probate and reducing taxes after death.
