In today’s world, it is essential that clients plan for both real-life assets, as well as digital estates. This generates many questions: Who is in charge when it comes to digital property? Do family members have the right to access their loved one’s account after a death? Would the individual who has passed want family
New Jersey Estate Tax: Status New Jersey and Maryland have both an estate tax and an inheritance tax. Unlike federal estate tax rules, a surviving spouse in New Jersey can not inherit the deceased spouse’s unused estate tax exemption, which means each spouse’s estate is taxed on every dollar over $ 675,000. New Jersey’s $
Modest estates: New tax planning considerations The landscape has changed for estate planning in the past several years since the gift and estate tax was set at 40% and the lifetime exemption was upped to $5,450,000 in 2016. Now many modest estates will have either no estate tax or a very nominal estate tax, therefore,
ESTATE PLANNING FOR SECOND MARRIAGES In our world of ever-changing laws, estate planning has become increasingly complex. This is especially true in the context of second marriages. Children from a prior marriage, strained family relationships and rights and restrictions imposed by law illustrate why the complexity of estate planning for second marriages is never simple.
There are three basic forms of joint ownership: Tenancy in common; joint tenancy; and tenancy by the entirety. Anyone who owns property jointly should be familiar with the consequences of joint ownership. A tenancy in common exists when two or more persons own an undivided interest in the whole property. There is no right of
Your fiduciary is an integral part of your estate plan. Who should you appoint to coordinate your affairs upon incapacity or death? Consider these questions when making the selection: • What are the responsibilities of my fiduciary? The fiduciary you select should be capable of handling the responsibilities of the appointed role. Personal Representatives and
“Probate” is the process of identifying and gathering a decedent’s assets, paying taxes, claims and expenses, distributing assets to beneficiaries and the wrapping up of a decedent’s affairs in a court supervised setting. Probate provides a means for those interested to make any claims, valid or invalid, in a fair structured process. Properly followed, it
An attorney retained by the deceased’s estate executor files with the local Probate Court to distribute the deceased’s assets. If no will is found, the deceased relatives retain an attorney to petition the Probate Court for distribution of the deceased’s assets to the heirs according to the state’s law of intestate succession. However, if the
Family, birth of our children, planning for our family’s needs, birth of our grandchildren, estate planning, passing on our legacies, birth of our great-grandchildren, family ties live on; our legacies live on – only the generations change. You have worked a lifetime creating a legacy you hope to share with our children and future descendants.
The IRS recently announced the inflation-adjusted items for 2016, including gift, estate, and generation-skipping transfer tax amounts. The following adjustments should be considered in your estate and gift planning: • The gift tax annual exclusion for 2016 remains $14,000 (and is increased to $148,000 for gifts to a non-U.S. citizen spouse). Married couples who elect