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. There are many questions that you must ask yourself before beginning your estate planning.

First, what is involved in estate planning? There are many issues to consider in creating an estate plan. First of all, ask yourself the following questions:

• What are my assets and what is their approximate value?
• Whom do I want to receive those assets-and when?
• Who should manage those assets if I cannot-either during my lifetime or after my death?
• Who should be responsible for taking care of my minor children if I become unable to care for them myself?
• Who should make decisions on my behalf concerning my care and welfare if I become unable to care for myself?

Second, who needs estate planning? You do-whether your estate is large or small. Either way, you should designate someone to manage your assets and make health care and personal care decisions for you if you ever become unable to do so for yourself. If your estate is small, you may simply focus on who will receive your assets after your death, and who should manage your estate, pay your last debts and handle the distribution of your assets. If your estate is large, your lawyer will also discuss various ways of preserving your assets for your beneficiaries and of reducing or postponing the amount of estate tax which otherwise might be payable after your death. (more…)

Estate Planning is an item that may not concern the younger readers. But, for the older folks this can be of some concern.

An Estate Planner will have you list the contents of your home. So as to be able to either auction off or who gets what from your estate. Depending upon your wishes. Planning ahead will prevent headaches between family members when your time comes. (more…)

Estate planning allows you to get your affairs in order in the event you become incapacitated or die. A will, which is the most basic estate planning tool, contains a written set of instructions to your loved ones as to how you want your estate to be distributed after your death.

So, what happens to your property if you don’t have a Will or estate plan?

If you die without a Will or any type of estate plan, your state’s intestacy laws will determine who will inherit your property. Intestacy laws may also determine who will act as guardian of your minor children. These laws do not consider personal circumstances or personalities, so your property and/or minor children can end up with a relative who you never would have chosen if you had the opportunity to establish an estate plan. In certain circumstances and in certain states, the state may benefit from the intestacy laws to a greater degree than your heirs. (more…)

Before one dies it is highly recommended that they have left behind a will and testament. A will and testament is a legal statement that shows how you want your belongings handled when you are deceased. It will show exactly who should be given what you own and the terms under which they will receive it. The wills requirements will vary from one state to another all across America. Wills are varied for all states including Texas.

The Texas wills recognized by law as valid and legit are three in number. The first and probably one of the oldest types of wills is the nuncupative will. This will just requires the maker to speak out exactly how his property should be handled. The other two types of Texas wills agreed by law are written. One is called the holographic and this is totally in the maker’s handwriting. The other kind is the type written will. (more…)

Different assets like possessions, property and money, which belong to a deceased person at the time of his/her death are included to value the estate of a deceased one. Similarly, certain assets that were given away by them within seven years before their death are also included. This valuation must precisely show what these assets would value for in the open market at the time of death.

If you are a personal representative, valuing the estate of the deceased’s estate is the first thing that you will need to do. Normally, you cannot take over as the manager of their estate as long as some due inheritance tax is not paid. However, you must also keep this fact in mind that inheritance tax is paid if the value is over £312,000. (more…)

A slow market is a good time to tidy up your personal affairs. In the past 6 months, five long time subscribers have died without any warning to speak of or long illness. Some of their lucky widows had no difficulty settling their estates because they had taken the time to up the Real Property into Land Trusts and their Personal Property, including Land Trust shares, stocks, bonds, and valuables into Personal Property Trusts. All Trusts funneled down through their Living Trusts to their designated heirs without the need for the delay and expense of Probate.

In contrast, a couple of people had held title to their property in their individual names and had done nothing to arrange for the passage of their estate. In their mid-50s they reasoned that they had plenty of time to do their estate planning later. As a consequence, their widows and families are destitute because they can’t prove that they have any right to the property.

In some States, when a person dies “intestate” without a Will or Trust, the State decides who gets what by means of “devise and descent” laws. In the meantime, a Receive is appointed to assemble and liquidate assets. A Receiver has been described as someone who bayonets the dead, but usually it’s the living who pay the tab as they see hard earned assets being consumed by court costs and expenses.

The moral of this story is for you to immediately get a Living Trust set up into which you deed, assign, or otherwise convey all of your assets. If you hold property in Trust, LLCs, or Corporations, have the shares of these entities owned by the living Trust. Next, you and your spouse should create a Durable Power of Attorney that gives each other the legal right to make decisions and deal with property. You need to notify any agency holding Stocks and Bonds that they should name your Living Trust Trstee as the owner of these securities. You should make sure that your Insurance Policies, 401Ks, Roth IRAs, IRAs, Simple Plans, and qualified corporate Pension Plans all name your spouse, or other heirs, as successor beneficiaries.

Sure, this is a lot of trouble, and if you really don’t care what happens to your family and to your property, why bother to do it? You decide.

For more than 40 years, Jack Miller, has taught the most creative real estate investing techniques and strategies. His timely information is the most reliable and innovative in the real estate industry. Sign up for your FREE conference calls and weekly real estate lesson at http://www.CashFlowDepot.com

Pre-Need Funeral Planning

For survivors, the hours and days following a loved one’s death is no time for weighty decisions. For many Americans, however, this will be the first time they think about preparations for the loved one’s funeral. Given the expense and painful emotions often involved, survivors may be in no condition to make choices for themselves or their loved one.

According to a survey of its membership by the National Funeral Directors Association, the average cost of a funeral today is $6,500. That’s an expense that can quickly escalate as survivors confront a bewildering range of options on everything from the kind and quantity of flowers to the quality of their loved one’s casket. A premium casket alone, for example, can exceed $15,000. Add in the expense of roses over carnations and live music over recorded, and survivors can end up paying triple or quadruple the average funeral’s cost. Yet, without advanced planning to guide them, survivors may feel guilty about saying anything but “yes” to the best for their loved one.

Leaving these emotionally charged decisions to grieving family and friends can pose an unfair burden on them in their time of loss. That’s why a growing number of Americans are choosing to take matters into their own hands with pre-need funeral arrangements. According to the American Association of Re-tired Persons, over 21 million U.S. consumers age 50 and over have made pre-arrangements for their own or a loved one’s funeral, representing a total of over $25 billion in prepaid funeral expenses. The National Funeral Directors Association reports that nearly 98% of all funeral homes have instituted some kind of pre-need planning program, making it easier than ever for Americans to plan their funeral well in advance. Today, most funeral homes offer several pre-need planning options. Generally, the process begins when individuals sit down with a funeral director to discuss the plans available to them. Once they’ve reviewed their plans with their spouse and their loved ones, they purchase a funeral package that reflects their wishes down to every possible detail. Consumers have several alternatives for pre-payment for their funeral plans. One is to purchase a life insurance policy with the funeral home named as beneficiary. Or consumers can make payments in installments over months or years. With yet another alternative, they may work with a licensed funeral director to establish a regulated Trust which will pay their funeral expenses. Lastly, consumers may prepay for their funeral in an account which earns interest, and which can be designated “payable on death” to the funeral home. After death, if there’s more money in their fund than required to pay for their funeral, the family will receive a refund.

The benefits of a prepaid funeral package go beyond cost savings, however. For many families, it provides an important opportunity to talk about sensitive issues and concerns that might otherwise have gone unspoken, and it allows the family to decide together which funeral options will be most meaningful to them. In many ways, prepaid funeral arrangements allow families to lay the foundation for a faster process in the future. For many Americans, the discussion of their own funerals conjures up unwelcome thoughts of death. But once they overcome their initial resistance, most will find more peace of mind than discomfort in knowing that all the details of this important task have been handled as they want them to be. (more…)

If someone dies without leaving a will, there’s a certain way which their estate is handled, according to the laws of intestacy. In most cases it’s a long drawn out process but something that has to be done. The fact is that, although the people nearest to them, but not related, may not get anything at all (even if the deceased person would have wished them to benefit) there are enough close relatives to be able to sort out the distribution of the estate. We stress though, that this may not have fitted in with the deceased persons wishes.

Where there are no relatives to be found, the estate may come to the attention of a solicitor who is in charge of the estate of the deceased or from a firm of heir hunters. Heir hunters make every effort to track down family members and work on a commission basis if they are successful.

Some 300,000 estates produce around 85 million pounds to be shared out in this way, where there is no will and no apparent heirs. Heir Hunters is a general name for professional probate genealogists – although somewhat easier to get your tongue round – who make a living by finding surviving relatives of the deceased persons family and signing them up to act for them in making the claim. (more…)

Nowadays, when the term “married couple” crops up, this refers to registered civil partners as well as married couples. This includes civil partners of the same sex. If you don’t leave a will, then unless your partner falls into this category, they won’t inherit anything. No matter how long the relationship and the period of co-habiting.

There will be talk of Nil Rate Bands when it comes to Inheritance Tax. Although Inheritance Tax has its complications, there are basic rules which are easy to understand. The Nil Rate Band is the part of the total estate which someone leaves when they die, which does not attract Inheritance Tax.

The Nil Rate Band is subject to change but in 2009 the figure or 325,000 pounds applied. So when an estate has been valued at a figure of less than this amount, no Inheritance Tax will be due. Since the end of 2007 if the first person in the couple is deceased and has left the estate to their spouse or legal partner, then that partner will leave two Nil Rate Bands. This is quite straightforward, but if gifts have been made in the last seven years of the life of the first to die, then the amount of Nil Rate Band will be reduced. (more…)

Dependent children require resources for health, maintenance, support and education. Some support is provided through guidance while other support requires money. Parents must provide both but what happens if the parents aren’t there to provide either?

The first step is crucial: have reasonable life insurance.

Could you imagine raising someone else’s child if the parents left no money? Most current statistics state raising a child to the age of 18 costs $250,000. Costs are higher in the earlier years due to doctor visits, diapers and daycare. On the back end, higher education could require additional money beyond age 18.

Even if only one parent is gone can the remaining parent alone afford mortgage payments, taxes, utilities and the costs of raising children?

What would the quality of life be for the surviving parent?

A family with one young child should consider having $500,000 in coverage.

What are your life insurance options? Three common forms are term, universal and whole life. Universal and whole life insurances are more expensive because they never terminate if you properly pay your premiums. Part of the premiums builds cash value, which one can borrow against or withdraw.

For many families term insurance is the best option because it is much cheaper and ends when needs for life insurance often diminish. It does not continue indefinitely nor does it build any cash value. If the term is 20 years, you pay the same premium for 20 years and after 20 years the policy ends.

How much does term insurance cost? $500,000 of coverage for a healthy, non-smoking parent is often less than $40/month.

It’s a good idea to have coverage on a stay-at-home spouse to help cover child-care costs and future retirement earnings if that parent were to return to work when dependent children are older. (more…)