What Are the Tax Implications for My Heirs Under My Current Estate Plan?
Video Summary
What are the tax implications for my heirs under my current estate plan? Well, if you are a Florida resident, whenever you pass away, the state of Florida has done away with the state taxes so that there’s no estate taxes due to the state of Florida. The federal government has raised the estate tax limitation to just under $14 million. So if your assets don’t equal $14 million, well there won’t be any federal estate tax. If you own real estate outside the state of Florida, that state may impose the estate tax on whatever the property is in that particular state. As far as income tax is that beneficiaries do not have to pay income tax on assets that they receive from the estate or trust as a result of your death. Under the Internal Revenue Code, you get what they call a step up basis for the date of death value of the property. By way of example, that if I purchased a property for $200,000 and 2000 and then I pass away in 2025 and the property is worth $400,000, my beneficiaries take the property for $400,000. That’s called a step up in basis. So if they would sell the property for $400,000, there would be no tax. If they sell it for more than the $400,000, the difference between the 400,000 what they sell it for would be long-term capital gains. If you have any questions concerning this, give me a call at (727) 847-2288.
- Published in Estate Planning, Videos
Can A Trust Protect My Assets from Creditors, Lawsuits, Or Long Term Care Costs?
Video Summary
Can a trust protect my assets from creditors, lawsuits long-term care costs? The answer is no. A revocable trust does not protect your assets from any of those, and that you look through the trust to see who controls the asset and who the beneficiary is, and so that it is a myth that many people have that they think if they transfer their assets into a trust that is protected from the claims accreditors. Also, as far as applying for Medicaid, if you need to have long-term care, again, the assets in the trust and the income is considered yours and you have to apply for it. Even the Internal Revenue Service doesn’t require you to get a separate federal identification number if you’re the trustee of your trust. Now, if you set up an irrevocable trust, then that’s a different story. Then it will protect your assets. However you lose control, you can have any control over your assets, and so there’s still a five-year lookback period for if you go into skilled nursing care, but I don’t drive irrevocable trust and that I don’t like the idea you’re giving up control of your assets and what happens to them. If you have any questions, give me a call at (727) 847-2288.
- Published in Estate Planning, Trusts, Videos
How Can I Make Sure My Beneficiaries Receive Their Inheritance Quickly and Smoothly?
Video Summary
How can I make sure my beneficiaries receive their inheritance quickly and smoothly? My suggestion is, particularly if you have a fairly simple estate, it’s how you title your assets with your bank accounts. You can put have it in your name, payable on death, and that’s a POD account and name your beneficiary. So, all they need is your death certificate and they can receive the Aspen. If you have a brokerage account with Merrill Lynch or Raymond James or Schwab or anyone else, you can put a transfer on death, A TOD designation, and that way the assets will pass to your beneficiaries by them presenting your death certificate and they’ll transfer it into your name, into the beneficiary’s name. If you own real estate and you want it to go to your beneficiaries, you can execute what they call a lady bird deed or enhanced life estate deed, which says that I convey the property to these beneficiaries. However, reserve all the rights of ownership during my lifetime, including the right to sell the property, keep all the proceeds, and you can even change who you wish to receive the property at the time of your death. So those are the ways that you can have these assets pass smoothly and without any lawyer interference as far as that’s concerned, or court interference. And so if you have any questions, give me a call at (727) 847-2288.
- Published in Estate Planning, Trusts, Videos, Wills
What Is Better Per Stirpes Or Per Capita?
Video Summary
What is better is per stirpes or per capita? Well, I don’t know that either one of them is better than the other. You use them to determine what your intent is. If you want the devised to go to your child, or if that child dies before you want it to go to their children or your grandchildren of that child, then you would use the word per stirpes or per stirps. If on the other hand, if you have, let’s say, three children and you want your estate to go to the survivor so that if one of your children dies before you want your entire estate to go to the other two, you would want to use the word per capita in your estate plan. So I’ll leave everything to my three children, and you would name them in equal shares per capita. So per capita, you count the number of heads that are alive at the time of your death to determine who receives it. On the other hand, if it’s per stirpes, you determine if any of the children have died before you and or your executor does because you are deceased and determine whether who you determine their children or their heirs to distribute their share to those grandchildren or their heirs. If you have any questions about it, give me a call at (727) 847-2288.
- Published in Estate Planning, Trusts, Videos
How Do I Get an Advance or Loan on My Share of the Probate Assets In The Estate or Trust?
Video Summary
How do I obtain an advance or loan on my share of the probate estate or Trust? Well, there’s various companies out there that will loan you money on your inheritance. I think the interest rate is very, very high. What I would suggest you do is to ask the executor or trustee of the estate or trust if they can make a partial distribution to you of your share of the trust with an estate or even with a Trust. Sometimes it’s difficult for them to know how much is going to be available if there are any creditors outstanding, or they must liquidate real estate as far as that’s concerned. But there are several companies out there who will lend money or give you a loan against your inheritance. I’m not sure just what the interest rate is, but they’ll take an assignment of your beneficial interest and I’m not sure what the loan to value would be. So, if you have any questions about it, give me a call at (727) 847-2288.
- Published in Estate Planning, Trusts, Videos