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Archive for the ‘Trusts’ Category

Protecting My Child’s Inheritance – Understanding How Trusts Can Help (Part 3)

Friday, March 19th, 2010

Adult Children

Parents wishing to give their adult child tax advantages that the child could not otherwise enjoy should consider including a trust in their Wills. A testamentary trust is treated as a separate taxpayer and the income earned by the trust is taxed at graduated rates (the more the trust earns, the more it is taxed up to a certain limit).   (more…)

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Protecting My Child’s Inheritance – Understanding How Trusts Can Help (Part 2)

Friday, March 12th, 2010

Children Under the Age of 18 (Minors)

A parent (or other person leaving a gift to a child) who wants to delay payment of the inheritance beyond the age of 18 must include a trust in his or her Will.  Otherwise, the inheritance will be handed over to the child at age 18.  If a trust holds the child’s inheritance, a parent can specify how much the child receives and when.    (more…)

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Protecting My Child’s Inheritance – Understanding How Trusts Can Help (Part 1)

Monday, March 1st, 2010

The world of trusts is fascinating, if not somewhat enigmatic.  Trusts, in general, are an important part of estate planning because of the beneficial tax treatment of testamentary (arising as the result of a death) trusts. However, trusts are used by parents and others for a variety of specific purposes besides tax planning. Over the next few weeks, I will offer a brief introduction to some of the ways that trusts are used to protect a child’s inheritance. (more…)

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Avoiding Probate Fees on Insurance Proceeds

Thursday, January 14th, 2010

If the deceased named a beneficiary on a life insurance policy on the deceased’s life, the surviving beneficiary receives the proceeds directly.  The insurance proceeds are not included in the value of the estate for purposes of calculating probate fees.  However, if the beneficiary has predeceased and no contingent beneficiary has been named, the insurance proceeds are payable to the estate and are included in the value of the estate for probate purposes. (more…)

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