Ownership of Life Insurance: Estate Planning
What are the ownership issues of life insurance? In estate planning, life insurance is purchased for several reasons: (1) to provide cash to the insured’s family for daily living expenses, (2) to provide cash for potential death taxes and estate expenses, and...
Gift and Estate Tax
What is federal gift and estate tax? If you give away money or property during your life, those transfers may be subject to federal gift and estate tax and perhaps state gift tax. The money and property you own when you die (i.e., your estate) may also be subject to...
Wills: The Cornerstone of Your Estate Plan
If you care about what happens to your money, home, and other property after you die, you need to do some estate planning. There are many tools you can use to achieve your estate planning goals, but a will is probably the most vital. Even if you’re young or your...
Bypassing Probate
You may have heard about the horrors of probate, but in truth, probate has gotten an undeservedly bad reputation, especially in recent years. If you bypass probate, your estate will go to your beneficiaries without any court proceeding, and you may save a certain...
