The use of trusts is an essential tool in estate planning.  Trusts provide flexibility in arranging a client’s property for present and future disposition that otherwise may not be available.  The fliexibility provided by using valid trusts may be said to be limited only by the objectives of the estate owner.  Often these objectives are conflicting and subject to alternate solutions that offer both advantages and disadvantages.  For example, an estate plan designed primarily for tax savings may not produce the most desirable disposition of the property.  Tax considerations constitute an important phase of sound estate planning but should not control all decisions.  The use of trusts in estate planning is not limited to large estates that produce more complex tax considerations.

A trust will assure that the property will be used for the benefit of the beneficiary who the client wishes to favor without interference of the spouse of that beneficiary.

A trust will relieve the beneficiary from the burden of property management.

A trust will protect against the dissipation of the trust’s assets by limiting the interest of the beneficiaries and granting the trustee discretionary powers of distribution through spendthrift provisions.

A trust will allow you to control the ultimate disposition of the trust property by creating life estates with remainder interests.

A trust will allow you to retain uniform management and control of business interests or real estate.

A trust will avoid probate on the death of the life beneficiary.

For more on the use of living trusts and how they might be best used by you and your family, please contact the estate planning and asset protection experts of Wild Felice & Pardo, PA at 954-944-2855 or via email at info@wfplaw.com.  Let us protect what you value most.

All property held by spouses as tenants by the entirety or as joint with right of survivorship will be deemed to be one-half (1/2) owned by each spouse regardless of which spouse furnished the consideration.  Thus only one-half (1/2) of such property will be included in the estate of the first spouse to die.  Caution: only one-half (1/2) of the joint property will receive a step up in basis, thereby possibly causing increased capital gains taxation.  Regarding jointly owned property by non-spouses, the property will be included in the estate of the first person to die, unless the survivor can prove contribution.

Joint ownership of assets is not ideal during life and poses many problems in the administering of an estate.  A better way to manage your assets is through a Revocable Living Trust.  For more on how to eliminate the need for Probate and reduce the estate tax burden your family will suffer when you die, please contact the South Florida estate planning attorneys of Wild Felice & Pardo, PA at 954-944-2855 or via email at info@wfplaw.com.  Let us protect what you value most.

http://njtoday.net/2010/05/03/the-five-most-important-estate-planning-documents/

The above link is an article written by Wells Fargo Financial Advisors.  It is a must read for every American.

Irrevocable Life Insurance Trust, also called ILITs, are ideal vehicles for sheltering insurance proceeds from your taxable estate so long as the policy need not be adjusted or tampered with by the subject to whom the payout on death is based.  If a person is using the life insurance policy as an investment vehicle, there is a good chance that they will want to spend down that policy’s accrued value later in life.  The ILIT will not permit that. 

In that scenario, we usually recommend taking the accrued value out as a loan immediately and then transferring the new $0 cost basis policy into the ILIT or purchasing a new term policy through the ILIT and using that benefit to offset the tax consequence of the whole life or universal policy.

For more information on the estate tax and protecting your family’s financial future, please contact the estate planning attorneys of Wild Felice & Pardo, P.A. at 954-944-2855 or via email at info@wfplaw.com.  Let us protect what you value most.

For South Florida couples that are unmarried or same sex, unique estate planning issues need to be faced.  In Florida, unmarried unions are not legally protected which makes living trusts the estate planning vehicle of choice for most of the GLBT community.  Your South Florida estate planning attorney can fully inform you of the benefits and drawbacks of each estate planning option, but this article will discuss the advantages of having a living trust in place.

A South Florida living trust, in conjunction with a financial power of attorney, will provide your partner with the ability to manage your assets in the event that you become disabled or incapacitated.  Powers of attorney, health care surrogates, and living wills are ancillary documents that can insure that your partner will be in charge of all legal, financial, and medical decisions in the event of your disability or incapacitation.  Without these documents in place, your partner may not even be able to visit you in the hospital, much less make those important decisions about your care or treatment.

A South Florida living trust is superior to the antiquated last will and testament because wills are significantly easier to challenge than trusts, which makes for a very sloppy division of assets if any of your friends or family were not completely supportive of your life style or your choice of partner.  Moreover, if you distribute your assets via a will, a notice of the proceeding must be given to your closest legal heirs, providing them with an opportunity to object and instigating the fights previously talked about.  While South Florida trusts are protected from public viewing, a will is a public record, which eliminates privacy and aids in disputes.  Even if you are 100 percent certain that no one in your family will challenge your will, the avoidance of the probate process alone is worth having a trust in place.  Many people incorrectly believe that having a will avoids probate.  In actuality, all wills must be probated and the legal process will be time consuming possibly delaying the surviving party’s access to needed funds for over two years.

Many South Florida unmarried couples believe that these problems can be avoided by simply putting their partner’s name on their assets, or joint tenancy, until they learn of the many pitfalls.  For appreciated assets, such as stocks and real estate, there are tax disadvantages to receiving assets from a joint tenant.  While inheriting from a will or trust at death eliminates taxable capital gains for the survivor, joint tenancy only eliminates one-half of those capital gains since you are only “inheriting” one-half of the property.  Moreover, you may be exposed to the debts and liabilities of your partner.  An even worse result of this type of “title” planning is that you lose control over where the assets go after your surviving partner dies.  Perhaps your goal is to provide for your partner for life, but then to control where the unused assets will go after he or she passes.  Only a South Florida living trust would provide you with this ability.

For more on the benefits of living trusts, please contact the South Florida estate planning attorneys of Wild Felice & Pardo, P.A. at 954-944-2855 or via email at info@wfplaw.com.  Let us protect what you value most.