An
"estate plan" is an arrangement for the conservation,
investment, use, management, and transfer of a person's property,
both during the person's lifetime and after the person's death.
The process by which a person's property is arranged so as to
gain the maximum benefits of pertinent laws while carrying out
the person's wishes for transfer of the property to others is
called "estate planning." Estate planning involves
the creation, preservation and distribution of family wealth.
Estate planning is concerned with the cost of accumulating wealth,
proper asset management during life and after death, as well
as the transfer of wealth between older and younger generations.
The overlap of income and transfer tax issues requires the estate
planner to be familiar with personal, corporate and partnership
income taxation, gift and death taxation, charitable planning
and taxation reporting requirements.
A "good" estate plan will combine different characteristics.
It will always take into account the tax consequences of particular
estate planning choices, though it will never be dominated by
those consequences. It will seek to combine sound investment
techniques with sound legal planning. It will keep the client's
personal needs and desires in mind, balancing them with the
client's wishes with respect to family members, friends, charitable
beneficiaries, and others. It will recognize opportunities for
transferring part of the client's property to other persons
or entities while the client is living and seek to accomplish
these transfers in the most efficient and economical method
possible, consistent with respect for the client's personal
needs, investment considerations, and tax savings opportunities.
It will plan for the ultimate disposition of the client's property
after the client's death in a way that will ensure that the
client's wishes are respected and that the objects of the client's
bounty will receive the maximum benefits from the property.
Estate Planning Questionnaire
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this is a fill-able form that only
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The Trouble with Trusts
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Estate
and Financial Planning Aspects of Managing the Risk of a Highly
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Tripping
Over the Gopher Holes: An Estate Planner's Guide to Proposition
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Now the Rest of the Story: No Contest Clauses Under The New
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-John A. Hartog
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Can You Hear Me Now? Drafting No Contest Clauses under
The New Rules
-John A. Hartog
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No
Clauses Under the New Regime
-John A. Hartog
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Roth
IRA Distributions
-John A. Hartog
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