20 July

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Your Vacation To Do List Should Include Estate Planning

By Libby Banks, The Law Ofﬁce of Libby Banks Most of us create a “to-do list” to get ready for our summer vacation. On the list should be creating or reviewing your estate plan. While international travel is still probably safer than driving in Phoenix, having this checked “Done!” before you leave will give you peace of mind. Here is a checklist of estate planning “to-do’s.” Create an estate plan. If you’ve procrastinated about estate planning, a vacation can give you a deadline to move forward. Allow adequate time to complete your estate plan before your trip. If you don’t...

11 July

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What the Changes in the Federal Estate Tax Laws mean for your Estate Plan?

Posted by Libby Banks

in Estate Planning, Wills & Trusts

By Libby Banks, The Law Ofﬁce of Libby Banks Early this year, Congress passed, and the President signed, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. Among the changes made to federal tax laws was an increase of the exemption for federal estate taxes to $11.2 Million per person through 2025, at which time it decreases to around $6 Million per person. Estate taxes won’t be levied on any of your assets under the exemption amount. What does this mean for you? It may mean that you need to change your estate plan. What you have now could be too complicated or cumbersome...

07 February

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Grandchildren and Estate Planning

Posted by Libby Banks

in Estate Planning

By Libby Banks, The Law Ofﬁce of Libby Banks I had to figure out how to connect grandchildren and estate planning just so I could announce: I had my first grandchild in December! My beautiful granddaughter and her gorgeous mother are healthy and doing well. Any of you who are grandparents know just how exciting and awe-inspiring this event is, and how you will do anything to create the opportunity to brag about your grandchild and show pictures. Seriously, though, I do get questions about estate planning from clients who have just had a grandchild about whether their plan will need an...

17 November

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Use a Professional for Your Wills and Trusts

Posted by Libby Banks

in Wills & Trusts

Use a Professional for Your Wills and Trusts The other day, a very savvy businesswoman I’ve gotten to know came in to take advantage of my no-charge review of existing estate plans. To my surprise, she brought in a do-it-yourself Last Will and Testament. It named an executor and said who would get her estate, just as a will should. But her Will was completely invalid because it wasn’t properly executed. Besides that, she did not have the other documents needed to assure that if she was incapacitated, someone could step in to care for her and for her finances. Have you ever heard the phrase “you don’t know what you don’t know”?...

10 November

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Asset Protection for Trust Beneficiaries

Posted by Libby Banks

in Wills & Trusts

Protect Your Children’s Inheritance The revocable living trust is a great estate planning tool. Putting your own assets in a revocable living trust doesn’t protect those assets from your creditors. The assets in your trust are still considered your assets because you continue to have complete control over them. However, you can use your trust to provide asset protection for your beneficiaries after your death. How can you do that? When you pass on your assets to your beneficiaries, you pass them on in a trust for each beneficiary. Instead of giving them of all the assets outright, where they put it in their own bank account or in their own name, at death we create an irrevocable trust for each...

20 September

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Why Every Homeowner Needs an Estate Plan

Posted by Libby Banks

in Estate Planning

Why Homeowners Need Estate Plans Many people, when they hear the words “estate planning,” don’t think it applies to them. “I don’t have an estate to plan!” they may say. I think this comes about from the use of the word estate. It makes us think of the show Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous where Robin Leach showed us massive estates and talked of the excess spending by the ultra-wealthy. But according to Merriam-Webster, the simple definition of estate is “all of the things that a person owns.” Thus, your estate is the sum of your stuff: your home, your bank...

24 August

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When To Review And Renew Your Estate Plan

Posted by Libby Banks

in Estate Planning

Knowing When To Review And Renew Your Estate Plan Life can sometimes be unpredictable. If change is on the horizon for you, your estate plan may need a change too. You put an estate plan in place and it addresses all the essentials: Avoiding probate, minimizing taxes, assuring someone to care for you and your assets if you are incapacitated and passing on your assets as easily and inexpensively as possible. But changes in your life may impact all your careful planning. So when should you review – and possibly renew – your estate plan? The Big Four Life Events – Marriage, Divorce, Birth and Death It seems obvious that if you get married...

08 June

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Reasons People Avoid or Delay Estate Planning

Posted by Libby Banks

in Estate Planning

blackboard with writing, " if not now, when?"

Eight Reasons People Avoid or Delay Estate Planning I hear lots of reasons why people have put off estate planning. Here are a few of those debunked! #8. I’m not old enough to worry about estate planning yet. Many clients come into my office saying that they realized they were “that age” and needed to do estate planning. At my estate planning seminars, when we discuss this issue, I flash a picture on the screen: Prince! Prince died at 57 years old. He clearly was not planning on that, because he didn’t make a will or do any form of estate planning. The truth...

01 June

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Avoiding the Pain of Probate

Posted by Libby Banks

in Avoid Probate, Estate Planning, Revocable Living Trust, Wills & Trusts

Avoiding the Pain of Probate Avoid Probate by using a Revocable Living Trust as your Primary Estate Planning Tool I often meet with clients whose most important goal is to avoid probate. A very good idea indeed! These clients realize that you will end up in probate if you don’t have a Will. What they don’t know is that you can end up in probate even with a Will. A Will is a document that designates who will be your personal representative (or in some states, your executor). It also states who will get your assets on your death. What it does NOT...

22 May

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Understanding Estate Planning

Posted by Libby Banks

in Estate Planning

Who Needs Estate Planning? Many people, when they hear the words “estate planning,” don’t think it applies to them. “I don’t have an estate to plan!” they may say. I think this comes about from the use of the word estate. It makes us think of the show Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous where Robin Leach showed us massive estates and talked of the excess spending by the ultra-wealthy. But according to Merriam-Webster, the simple definition of estate is “all of the things that a person owns.” Thus, your estate is the sum of your stuff: your home, your bank...

Author: Libby Banks