Recent News & Blog / Estate Planning
If you’re married, ensure that you and your spouse coordinate your estate plans
Unintended consequences can result if you and your spouse fail to properly coordinate your estate plans. By working on your estate plans together, you and your spouse can take full advantage of the marital deduction and applicable gift and estate tax exemptions. This can help minimize the overall tax burden on both estates. Contact our estate planning consultants with questions.
Why choosing the right trustee matters
When drafting a trust, you must appoint a trustee. This can be an individual or a financial institution. Several qualities help make someone an effective trustee. Read here to know what to look for in a trustee. Contact our estate planning advisors for guidance.
Members of the “sandwich generation” face unique estate planning circumstances
Members of the sandwich generation find themselves simultaneously caring for aging parents while supporting their own children. Not surprisingly, they face unique financial and emotional pressures. Consider these next steps to aid in these challenges. Contact our estate planning advisors to learn about additional estate planning techniques for your unique situation.
The GST tax and your estate plan: What you need to know
To share wealth with grandchildren, great-grandchildren or other remote generations, special planning may be required to keep generation-skipping transfer (GST) taxes to a minimum. Contact our estate planning advisors with questions.
Need to modify an existing irrevocable trust? Decant it
“Decanting” an irrevocable trust allows a trustee to use distribution powers to transfer assets from one trust into another with different, often more favorable, terms. While the original trust must be irrevocable, meaning its terms typically can’t be changed by the grantor, decanting offers a lawful method for trustees to update those terms under certain conditions. Contact SEK's estate planning advisors for details.
Sharing your estate plan’s details with family has pros and cons
When it comes to estate planning, one important decision many people struggle with is whether to share the details of their plans with family members. There’s no one-size-fits-all answer; it largely depends on your goals and your family dynamics. Contact our estate planning advisors for more information.
Stepped-up basis rules can ease the income tax bite of an inheritance
The stepped-up basis rules can reduce capital gains tax for family members who inherit your assets. Under these rules, when your loved one inherits an asset, its tax basis is adjusted to its fair market value at the time of your death. However, these rules don’t apply to retirement assets such as 401(k) plans or IRAs. Contact our estate planning advisors for details.
Incentive trusts: Use them to pass your wealth and values on to beneficiaries
If your estate planning goals include distributing your wealth while also encouraging specific behaviors or achievements among your heirs, using an incentive trust might be right for your plan. Essentially, an incentive trust sets guidelines for how a beneficiary becomes eligible to benefit from the trust. Contact SEK's estate planning advisors for guidance.
What happens if you and your siblings inherit your parents’ home?
When estate planning, it’s common for parents to leave their primary residence or a vacation home to their children. Typically, you and your siblings will receive equal shares in the property. But what if you can’t agree on what to do with the home? Here are some considerations. Contact our estate planning advisors with questions.
It may be in your best interest to file a gift tax return
Generally, the IRS has three years to challenge the value of a transaction for gift tax purposes or to assert that a nongift was, in fact, a partial gift. But unless the transaction is adequately disclosed, the IRS can collect unpaid gift taxes (plus penalties and interest) years later. Filing a return creates a paper trail, reducing the risk of IRS disputes later. Contact the estate planning advisors and tax advisors at SEK for more information.