When tax laws change, review your portfolio to see how it might be affected. Arming yourself with an effective tax strategy can help you avoid costly mistakes that could eat into your estate. Your strategy could include:
planning for state estate taxes. In addition to the federal estate tax, several states levy their own estate and inheritance taxes.
For instance, 12 states and the district of columbia have a state estate tax, and 6 states have an inheritance tax. As of 2024, maryland is the only state that levies both. While estate taxes are only collected from a small percentage of extremely wealthy families (assets that exceed $13.
A trust is a legal estate planning document that involves three parties: a trustor, a trustee and a beneficiary (or beneficiaries). It’s set up by a trustor to give a trustee authority to hold and manage assets on behalf of your named beneficiary or beneficiaries. There are several types of trusts, and which one is right for you will depend on the size of your estate, your goals and the legacy you want to leave. Importance to estate planning: despite what people once thought, trusts are not just for the very wealthy. The truth is, a trust is a valuable document that can provide many protections, including privacy and the ability to avoid probate.
Estate Planning vs. Will
Learn everything you need to know about estate planning including what it is, getting started & the basics of estate planning in this guide by trust & will!.
What is estate planning? is it a legal exercise? is it a psychological exercise? well, truthfully, there are a lot of both. The first question that i ask of individuals who come to see me is, what do you want to do with all of your widgets? you say we don't have widgets. What you have are a lot of things. These things either create opportunities, cause problems, or a little bit of both. So, the first question is:
why trust us? nolo was born in 1971 as a publisher of self-help legal books. Guided by the motto “law for all,” our attorney authors and editors have been explaining the law to everyday people ever since. Learn more about our history and our editorial standards. Each article that we publish has been written or reviewed by one of our editors, who together have over 100 years of experience practicing law. We strive to keep our information current as laws change. Learn more about our editorial standards. You might hear that you need to make an "estate plan," but what does an estate plan cover and how do you make one? here's a simple list of the most important estate planning steps to consider.
If you are like most people starting the estate planning process, you probably don’t have a full understanding of what is involved. Common questions include: what do i need to bring to the initial meeting? how much will the estate plan cost? what type of estate plan do i need? how long does it take to complete the estate planning process? what do i have to do after my estate plan is created? we will answer these common questions and more below.