Planning is important when providing for your children or grandchildren. But planning for their education has special importance and may have special advantages. This article looks at how a trust can be used to provide for your child or grandchild’s education. The article looks at how a trust can protect those funds. Planning for Education Expenses … [Read more...]
Income Tax Basis in Estate Planning
Income tax basis is important in estate planning. This article examines what happens to an asset’s basis when it is gifted. It then examines what happens to the basis of an asset when someone dies with the asset and then bequeaths it to someone. Many people find it surprising that these are treated differently. Income tax basis is an important factor in considering estate planning strategies. Income Tax Basis in Estate Planning … [Read more...]
Make Your Own Plan
Planning is important. If you don’t plan, your assets go pursuant to the state’s default plan, which may be very different from what you want. If you plan, you can be sure your assets go exactly to whom you want and in a manner that can benefit them the most. Make Your Own Plan … [Read more...]
How Much is Too Much?
This article looks at the question of how much is too much to leave your children. Many people have pledged to give the majority of their wealth to charity. If you won’t leave all your assets to your children, the article provides resources for vetting worthwhile charities. How Much is Too Much? … [Read more...]
Consequences of Modifying an Irrevocable Trust
Irrevocable trusts often can be modified. They can be modified under the Uniform Trust Code or a state law decanting. While these modifications may be determinative of the state law consequences, they may not determine federal tax consequences. Read on to learn more. Consequences of Modifying an Irrevocable Trust … [Read more...]
What Is the Uniform Transfer to Minors Act?
If you plan to gift assets to a minor, either while you are alive or after you are gone, care must be taken to ensure that those assets are protected and properly managed while the beneficiary is a minor. There is more than one way to do that. The Uniform Transfer to Minors Act (UTMA) was created specifically to provide one option while creating a trust is another possibility. To help you better understand your options, the Oklahoma City trust attorneys at Parman & Easterday explain the … [Read more...]
Trusts for Privacy
Trusts have many uses. Perhaps the most important is that they can provide privacy at death. Garry Shandling is thought to have used a trust to provide privacy for those he left behind. Trusts for Privacy … [Read more...]
Estate Planning is for You, Not Just Your Parents or Grandparents
If you’re young and unmarried, do you really need an estate plan? The answer is “yes,” if you care what happens to you and your stuff. Read on to find out how an estate plan can help someone who is young and unmarried. Estate Planning is for You, Not Just Your Parents or Grandparents … [Read more...]
Planning for Step-Children
If your spouse has biological children, you may consider them your own. But, if you haven’t adopted them, they have no inheritance rights. This article looks at how to plan for step-children. Planning for Step-Children … [Read more...]
Can I Reject an Inheritance Someone Left Me?
When a loved one passes away, the survivors typically say very little out loud about how the decedent’s estate assets are to be distributed. The reality, however, is that the assets of a decedent must be passed down to the beneficiaries and/or heirs of the estate pursuant to the decedent’s Will or trust or using the state’s intestate succession laws. If you recently lost someone close to you, there is a good chance that the decedent left you an inheritance. What do you do if you don’t want that … [Read more...]
