Estate & Tax Planning
how your estate plan affect your potential estate tax liability
What is Estate & Tax Planning?
Whether you should have a will or a trust, whether you should consider tax planning, asset protection, or simply probate avoidance, consider the following questions:
- What are my goals and concerns?
- What are my family circumstances?
- How do I want to take care of my beneficiaries?
- Who do you want to take care of you during your incapacity?
- What are my assets and how are they titled?
Beyond basic estate planning, we often consider how your estate plan affects your potential estate tax liability, how your plan should consider gift taxes or the generation-skipping transfer tax, and, when applicable, how you could benefit from income or capital gains tax planning.
What is Estate & Tax Planning?
- Probate avoidance for you and your heirs
- Who will make healthcare decisions if you cannot
- Who is in control of your assets when you are not
- Who gets what, when, and how upon your death
Your Estate Plan should provide for:
- Who will take care of your minor children or children with disabilities
- Divorce, liability, and fiscal immaturity protection for heirs
- Remarriage of the surviving spouse
- Estate tax exemption planning
Protect What Matters Most
Trusts & Wills
Matters of life and death are part of the human experience. Creating a plan for those you care about can reduce stress and confusion during a difficult time. Creating a revocable living trust is one of the best ways to ensure your family is not left with financial burdens or put in the middle of financial disputes. Contact WCSS to learn more about revocable living trusts, how to create one, and the many benefits they can provide to your family.
Planning Ahead for Peace of Mind
Incapacity & End-of-Life Planning
With advances in healthcare and medical technology, you are increasingly likely to live while unable to make decisions for yourself. Incapacity planning ensures a clear directive for your wishes should an unexpected health issue arise, whether temporary or permanent. If you cannot handle your affairs, having a plan guarantees that your chosen representative, doctors, and family have clear directions to follow.
Legal documents and considerations in this area include:
- General Durable Power of Attorney
- Healthcare Power of Attorney
- HIPAA Authorization
- Living Will
Securing your child’s future
Legal Guardianship & Financial Protection for Your Minor Children
WCSS can help you protect your children and the gifts you leave them. Proper planning can empower temporary legal guardians to act quickly in an emergency and nominate permanent guardians for your children should something happen to you. Furthermore, while minor children
cannot inherit what you leave for them until they are adults, a simple will does not protect them from the potentially disastrous results of inheriting it the day they turn eighteen.
