No worries – Put your Estate Plan Under a Stress Test to Detect Abnormalities
A well-designed estate plan helps cement your legacy, but that doesn’t mean it’s written in stone. Changing family circumstances, evolving tax laws, fluctuating financial markets, health issues and other factors can impact the effectiveness of your plan over time. One strategy that can help identify potential weaknesses or vulnerabilities in your plan...
Preserving Wealth, Empowering Legacy – How a Family Office Can Help Transfer Generational Wealth
For high-net-worth individuals and families, passing down wealth is more than a financial goal — it’s a legacy. But with that legacy comes complexity. Estate tax implications, asset management, philanthropic goals and family dynamics all require careful orchestration.
That’s where a family office comes in. It’s not just for...
Estate Planning Red Flag -Contingent Beneficiaries Haven’t Been Named in an Estate Plan
Naming contingent beneficiaries in your estate plan can help ensure that your assets are distributed according to your wishes — even if your primary beneficiaries are unable or unwilling to accept their inheritances. Contingent beneficiaries serve as a backup plan. They’re the individuals or entities who’ll receive the designated assets if the...
Handle an Inherited IRA With Care
An inherited IRA can be a welcome financial windfall. But the rules governing required minimum distributions (RMDs) from these tax-deferred accounts are complex. IRA recipients should familiarize themselves with these rules to avoid potentially costly tax mistakes.
End of the “stretch” IRA
Until relatively recently, IRA...
Estate Planning Red Flag – You’ve Sent Your Child to College Without an Estate Plan
As you create a checklist of things your college-aged student will need for the upcoming school year, a critical, and often overlooked, item is an estate plan. Even though your child likely has few assets to his or her name, a basic estate plan is a necessity should the unthinkable happen.
Is it Time to Update Your Will? Consider a Codicil
Creating a will is a foundational step in your estate plan. But life rarely stays the same after it’s drafted. Whether you’ve gotten married (or divorced), welcomed a new family member or acquired significant property, it may be time to revisit your will and make any necessary revisions.
One...
Can Your Will Be Contested?
A no-contest clause can cause beneficiaries to think twice
Your will is meant to ensure that your final wishes are honored. However, it can sometimes be contested, potentially leading to lengthy legal battles and financial disputes among your heirs. Understanding when and why a will might be contested —...
Estate Planning Red Flag – You Own Property Jointly with your Child and Haven’t Planned Properly
There are certain estate planning strategies that, on the surface, may sound appealing. This includes owning property jointly with a child or other family member. However, in practice, these techniques can result in unwelcome outcomes that outweigh any potential benefits.
To be clear, owning an asset with your child...
Now’s the Time to Review your Generation-Skipping Transfer Tax Exposure
Absent congressional action this year, the federal gift and estate exemption and the generation-skipping transfer (GST) tax exemption (currently $13.99 million) are scheduled to return to their pre-2018 levels of $5 million (around $7 million when adjusted for inflation) beginning in 2026. So, it’s a good idea to consider strategies for taking...
Estate Planning Red Flag – You Don’t Understand the Rules when Splitting Gifts with your Spouse
Here’s a quick estate planning tip: one of the easiest ways to reduce the size of your taxable estate is to take advantage of your gift tax exclusion. For 2025, you can transfer up to $19,000 per recipient gift-tax-free. And you can double the exclusion to $38,000 per beneficiary if you elect...