If I Have a Living Trust, Should I Also Have a Will?
Video Summary
If I have a living trust, should I have a will answer? The question is yes, those are called Pour- Over wills, meaning that your will says I leave whatever assets that I may have that are just titled in. I name to the trustee of my trust, the trust, then the trustee designates who the beneficiaries are, what I have found over my career that sometimes trust are set up and are fine and dandy. They designate who all the beneficiaries are, but for whatever reason, the assets of the decedent are not titled into the name of the trustee. And so there must be a probate proceeding to have the assets transferred to the trustee so they can be distributed to the beneficiaries. So without a will leaving it to the trust, well then the assets would pass to the children or the heirs of the decedent, which is probably not the same as the testament scheme or who you wanted to receive these assets as, as a result of executing a trust. So that is a real good reason to have a will. That leaves everything to the trustee and your trust upon your death in the event. So that any assets that you have in your name alone will go to your trustee to be distributed to your designated beneficiaries. If you have any questions, give me a call at (727) 847-2288.
- Published in Estate Planning, Trusts, Videos, Wills
Does A Living Trust Avoid Estate and Probate Taxes?
Video Summary
Does a living trust avoid estate and probate taxes? The answer to that question is no, it does not. So let let’s talk about the estate taxes in the state of Florida, Florida has done away with their estate tax. The federal government has raised the federal estate tax limit to 11.8 million. So if your estate is less than, 11.8 million, you don’t have to worry about probate taxes. Also if it’s you live in Florida, your Florida assets are not subject to estate taxes. The only time that you may be concerned about estate taxes is if you own real estate outside the state of Florida, wherever the real estate is situated, then that state may have an estate as far as that’s concerned, as far as probate taxes. They’re not necessarily a probate tax that as far as probate expenses, which is primary attorney fees and it can avoid probate. But there still may be some attorney fees involved as far as the administration of the estate. So if you have any questions about your revocable trust, we’ll give a call at (727) 847-2288.
- Published in Estate Planning, Taxes, Videos
How Do I Close A Credit Card Account of a Deceased Person?
Video Summary
How do I close the credit card account of a deceased person? The first thing I’d suggest you do is to cut the credit card in half, and then if you have a death certificate, send a death certificate to the credit card company or possibly call and advise them that the person is deceased. Some of the other considerations, when dealing with credit cards, you need to see if there’s another user, as far as that’s concerned. And so, or, or if it’s a debit card, there’s a bigger problem where all they need to have is the, the code. And they can use that to access a bank account but any event, you need to determine whether or not there’s another person authorized to use the account. And, also who is liable on the account who signed that. So if it’s just in the decedent’s name, well, that’s, my suggestion is to notify the credit card company, cut the card in half, and hopefully they’ll freeze the account. So no one else can use the account after his death. And also if you’re an heir or whatever, you do not have any liability for that credit card account. And if there’s no estate, the credit card company does not get paid. So if you have any questions, as far as probates concerned and credit cards will give me a call at (727) 847-2288.
Should Bank Accounts of the Deceased Person Be Closed Immediately Upon Death?
Video Summary
Should a bank account of the deceased person be closed immediately upon death? First off, we would need to determine whether or not it is a joint account. If it’s a joint account, particularly between husband and wife, I do not suggest that it be closed immediately. The reason for that is if a check comes in a payable to the decedent, you need to have some place to deposit it so that you wouldn’t have to go through a probate proceeding in order to cash the check. If however, the account is just in the decedent’s name, I suggest that you may want to deliver a death certificate to the bank and ask them to freeze the account. You would then need to go through a probate proceeding in order to close the account and collect the proceeds. So, if you have any questions about how to collect the money from, deceased bank account, give me a call at (727) 847-2288.
- Published in Estate Planning, Probate, Videos
Do I Have to Report Money Received As a Beneficiary to Probate Court?
Video Summary
Do I have to report money to the IRS for money that I received as a beneficiary of a probate proceeding? First off, let’s talk about a state taxes. The state of Florida has done away with the state taxes. So, there was none, no estate taxes to be paid to the state of Florida. The federal government has raised the federal estate tax limit to $11.8 million. So, if the estate or the decedent’s assets are less than that amount, there are no estate taxes. As far as money that you receive from a probate proceeding, or a probate state, you should not have to pay any income tax on it other than whatever the interest is, or the income from the estate, the personal representative of the estate is required to file what they call a fiduciary tax return or 1041. And then they file that and sign to you as the beneficiary, a K1, the amount of income that you would have to report on your income tax and whether it’s ordinary income or long term capital gains, the personal representative can deduct the expenses of the estate from the income. So that would be a minimum. It could be a minimal amount, but you’ll get a K1 from the personal representative. If you just inherited a bank account, you don’t have to pay any tax on the principal amount you receive. However, if you receive the interest on a bank account as a beneficiary, you would have to report that income on your tax return. If you have any questions, give me a call at (727) 847-2288.