08 August

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Estate Planning – Who Needs It?

in Asset Protection, Avoid Probate, Estate Planning, Power Of Attorney, Revocable Living Trust, Wills & Trusts

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.” The word is often used to refer to the mansions and real estate holdings of the rich and famous. But the definition of an estate is “all of the things that a person owns.” In other words, your estate is the sum of your stuff: your home, your bank accounts, your stocks and bonds, your retirement account, your cars and boat, and...

01 November

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Different Trusts Meet Different Needs in Your Estate Plan

Posted by Libby Banks

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

There are a number of different types of trusts we use when doing an estate plan. Here is a bit of information about a few of the most common trusts. The Revocable Living Trust The primary trust we use in estate planning is the Revocable Living Trust (“RLT”). It is the foundation of most estate plans and has many benefits. It contains instructions for managing the assets in the trust during your life, upon your death, and if you become incapacitated. The RLT will also avoid the need for a probate court proceeding on your death. You can select the person(s) who...

01 August

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Estate Planning – Who Needs It?

Posted by Libby Banks

in Asset Protection, Avoid Probate, Estate Planning, Power Of Attorney, Revocable Living Trust, Wills & Trusts

04 June

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The Biden Tax Plan and Your Estate

Posted by Libby Banks

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

With the advent of a new administration usually comes change. President Biden’s tax plan may affect your estate planning adversely. Here are a few key points of the plan. Estate and Gift Taxes May Increase: Arizona has no estate taxes. On the federal level, each person has an estate and gift tax exemption – the amount you can give away during life and at death before being taxed – that is currently $11.7 Million. Biden’s plan would reduce the federal exemption to $3.5 Million for estate taxes at death, and $1 Million for gifts made during your lifetime. The plan also proposes to...

18 January

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Out With the Old, In With the New

Posted by Libby Banks

in Estate Planning, Revocable Living Trust, Wills & Trusts

As we start the New Year, I wanted to talk about older methods of estate planning versus newer, more efficient and cost-effective means of planning. Your estate is simply what you own. For most reading this article, that at least includes a home, a retirement account, bank accounts and maybe a brokerage account. In the not-so-distant past, planning for your estate at death meant preparing a Last Will and Testament. Today, we use the Revocable Living Trust more often. There are many benefits to using the Revocable Living Trust, but often people think that only the wealthy need a Trust. I think...

11 December

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Estate Planning Is More Than Writing A Will Video

Posted by Libby Banks

in Estate Planning, Wills & Trusts

13 August

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How the Revocable Trust Works for You

Posted by Libby Banks

in Estate Planning, Revocable Living Trust, Wills & Trusts

The Revocable Living Trust is valuable for many estate planning needs, but one of the most obvious is the avoidance of all the time and expense of probate. I like to think of your Trust as your treasure chest. Your assets, the things you worked and saved hard to have – go into your Trust – into your treasure chest. While you are alive and able, you are taking care of the treasure chest as the trustee. If you can’t take care of your treasure chest anymore, either because of your death or because you are incapacitated, you have named a...

08 July

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Asset Protection for Your Heirs

Posted by Libby Banks

in Asset Protection, Estate Planning, Wills & Trusts

The revocable living trust is a great estate planning tool, but it does not protect your assets from your creditors. The assets in your trust are still considered your assets because you continue to have complete control over them. On the other hand, you can use your trust to provide asset protection for your beneficiaries after your death. When you pass your assets on to your beneficiaries, 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, your trust directs the trustee to create an irrevocable...

04 June

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Estate Planning for Incapacity

Posted by Libby Banks

in Estate Planning, Power Of Attorney, Revocable Living Trust, Wills & Trusts

When my clients think about estate planning, they tend to think about the end of life, about what’s going to happen to their assets, and who will handle the estate and make distributions to their beneficiaries. Often, they don’t realize that an equally (or maybe more) important aspect of planning is all about who will manage your assets and take care of you and your financial affairs if you become incapacitated. With proper planning, you decide; without proper planning a court may get to make the choice, and at great expense and rarely expeditiously. What do we mean by “incapacitated?” In...

23 May

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Different Trusts Meet Different Needs in Your Estate Plan

Posted by Libby Banks

in Estate Planning, Wills & Trusts

There are a number of different types of trusts we may use when doing an estate plan. Here is a bit about a few or the most common. The Revocable Living Trust The primary trust we use in estate planning is the Revocable Living Trust (“RLT”). It is the foundation of most plans and offers many benefits. Not only does it contain instructions for managing the assets in the trust if you become incapacitated, but it will also avoid the need for a probate court proceeding on your death. The person(s) you select will be able to step in quickly to gather,...

Revocable Living Trust Tag