Asset Protection

Estate Planning and Buy-Sell Agreements for Your Business

Published on: May 16, 2017 | by Ettinger Law Firm

Comprehensive estate planning can be an extremely complicated process for an individual. This is even more true when the individual owns a business. The owners of closely held businesses own businesses with a limited number of shareholders and the stock in such businesses is not regularly traded publicly. While this type of business can provide many benefits for business owners, it can also create issues when one of the business owner dies. However, structuring a buy-sell agreement for a closely held business can help make estate planning easier when it comes to your interest in such a business.

Redemption Agreements

With a redemption agreement, the company itself purchases a life insurance policy on the various owners of the company. When one of those owners die, the sole owner of the life insurance policy – in this case, the company – will receive the benefits of the life insurance policy and can buy back the deceased shareholder’s shares. There are some potentially negative tax consequences for this type of arrangement, including the possibility of the business to be subject to the current corporate alternative minimum tax on the proceeds from the life insurance policy.

Tips for Selecting a Guardian for Minor Children

Published on: May 13, 2017 | by Ettinger Law Firm

Comprehensive estate planning is a deeply personal process. There are so many different factors to consider, and working with an experienced estate planning attorney can help streamline the process and ensure that you explore all of the aspects of estate planning that pertain to you. One of the most difficult parts of comprehensive estate planning is selecting a guardian for your minor children if both parents should become deceased or incapacitated at the same time, leaving neither able to care for any shared children. As difficult as the process can be, it is extremely important to undertake it so that the best interests of your children are provided for in a worst-case scenario. The following are some tips in approaching the guardian selection process and provide some important considerations for you to remember when selecting a guardian, and an experienced estate planning attorney can help you with the process.

Choose Compatible People

Most people put a great deal of planning and thought into how they choose to parent. It is important for your peace of mind as well as your children’s well-being that you select individuals that share a similar parenting style and outlook. If academics are important in your household, make sure that they are also important to prospective guardians. Additionally, making sure that individuals you are considering as guardians are ready to undertake the responsibility that comes with it is extremely important.

Avoiding Probate when Passing on an Estate

Published on: May 3, 2017 | by Ettinger Law Firm

Executing a will or estate through probate court can be a costly, time consuming process full of surprises and complex issues. On top of that, the probate process creates a public record of the proceedings that may reveal information individuals wish to keep private, including debts, real estate holdings, and prenuptial agreement agreements.

Fortunately, New York probate law gives individuals planning their estate options to avoid this burdensome process by creating living trusts, setting up joint ownership, and various transfer agreements. However, even these options come with various challenges that can complicate what is meant to be a less stressful process.

By thinking ahead, weighing options, and speaking to an experienced estate planning attorney, individuals and couples can tailor a plan that best suits their needs and ensures their final wishes are carried out with the greatest benefit to survivors. Here are some common ways to avoid probate court in New York.

Long-Term Care Insurance and Estate Planning

Published on: May 2, 2017 | by Ettinger Law Firm

Almost every post, we remind people that estate planning is a comprehensive undertaking that has many different options that can be tailored for individual needs. Experienced estate planning attorneys can help clients understand the role that different option can play in the estate planning process. Another vehicle that can provide individuals and their loved ones with financial security is long-term care insurance. With the growing cost of medical care and the average life expectancy of people reaching 65 today at approximately 85 years of age, high healthcare costs can become a severe drain on a family’s financial resources. However, planning for the cost of long-term medical care can help you maintain the bulk of your estate to distribute to your heirs as you see fit.

What Is Long-Term Care Insurance?

Long-term care insurance not only protects your heirs from the expenses associated with caring for elderly family members, but can also help you prepare for the costs of caring for your aging family members. The purpose of long-term care insurance is to help offset the costs of long-term care that can come with age. For instance, caring for an aging family member that has developed cognitive impairments such as Alzheimer’s disease can sometimes require a daytime visiting nurse while you and your family are at work and/or school, or even around-the-clock medical care in a nursing home facility.

Fives Ways to Protect Your Estate Plan

Published on: April 28, 2017 | by Ettinger Law Firm

Estate planning should be a lifelong process. It is never too early to start the estate planning process, even with minimal assets at a younger age. Once you have a comprehensive estate planning framework in place, it is important to update it as life events change your circumstances. Much like your life is always evolving, so should your estate plan. It must be reviewed on a regular basis to ensure it is up-to-date and continues to comply with changes in laws governing it. When you put this much time and effort into such an important component of protecting your loved ones, it is important to ensure there are mechanisms in place to protect it. The following suggestions, adapted from a recent article from CNBC, can help you ensure your estate plan is secure.

Pre-Paid, Pre-Planned Funerals

When a loved one passes away, it can be an extremely difficult experience. One of the most difficult parts of the grieving process is trying to make funeral arrangements while grieving, and funeral expenses can often be very high. By pre-paying for your funeral arrangements, you can spare your family from the unexpected costs related to funeral expenses while also saving yourself money by locking in prices before they grow over time. Pre-planning your funeral arrangements allows you to ensure that your wishes for your funeral are carried out and help your family avoid stressful decisions during the grieving process.

Beneficiary Forms and Estate Planning

Published on: April 20, 2017 | by Ettinger Law Firm

Understanding the different aspects of estate planning is a crucial part of creating a comprehensive estate plan that accomplishes your individual goals. For probate assets, many individuals utilize a Last will and Testament to direct the distribution of assets subject to probate. Non-probate assets, such as life insurance policies and assets held within a trust, are distributed upon death according to the mechanism for distribution contained within the asset and are usually directed by the nomination of a beneficiary. It is extremely important to remember beneficiary nominations when creating, reviewing, and revising your estate plan.

Common Beneficiary Pitfalls

One common beneficiary pitfall occurs with assets like bank accounts that often have a payable on death beneficiary option. With these options, a bank is directed to distribute assets within the account covered by that designation to the person listed as the payable on death beneficiary. This can cause unintended problems if your Last Will and Testament directs your bank assets to be distributed differently, and may result in an unintended Will contest that could jeopardize other aspects of your Will. Making sure that beneficiaries for these types of assets are properly aligned with other provisions of your estate planning documents is an important part of ensuring your wishes are carried out.

Property and How to Plan For It With Your Estate Attorney

Published on: April 17, 2017 | by Ettinger Law Firm

How property and assets are distributed when you pass can be a sensitive topic that many people do not like to address, in fact, more than half of Americans die without a will every year. This failure to plan for the distribution of assets and property can leave many interested parties at odds and may not reflect what your last wishes were for your legacy. Depending on what you are leaving behind, there are some considerations that must be made regarding your assets.

Depending upon the state you reside in, your property may pass subject to probate or it may pass outside due to pre-documented rights of survivorship or trust language. If you live in a community property state, which means that all property acquired by you or your spouse during the marriage, regardless of who bought it is property of the marriage, then your property will pass subject to probate court. However, passing through probate may be avoided if you have left rights of survivorship language in your will or property ownership documentation. Property is then subject to the estate tax, which may not be the main concern of dissolution, depending on the assets involved.

Additionally, a trust can be set up that will either avoid probate or will continue to be includable in your estate. If you seek to avoid probate, you can form what is called an irrevocable trust, which allows you to put your assets and property in a trust, to be held and owned by the trustee, who works to administer the trust under the governing trust and also make decisions in the best interest of the grantor and any potential beneficiaries. However, if you wish to form a trust but still seek to maintain control of your assets and property by amending or revoking the trust during your lifetime, you can form a revocable trust.

Business Ownership and Estate Planning: Recapitalization

Published on: April 15, 2017 | by Ettinger Law Firm

The estate planning process can be complex and confusing, which is one of the reasons it is a good idea to work with an experienced estate planning attorney as part of creating a comprehensive estate planning strategy. This is especially true for business owners. Recently, we wrote about some important estate planning considerations for business owners. One potential question many business owners may have when considering estate planning for their business is whether or not it is a good idea to remain in control of their business or transfer their business to their heirs.

When a business owner wants to remain in charge of their business, this can be a difficult question because transferring the ownership of a business can often mean transferring the management responsibilities of the business, too. While the answer as to whether or not remaining in control of your business is right for you depends on each business owner’s individual circumstances, one possible technique to consider is business recapitalization. Business recapitalization will allow you to separate ownership from management, and could be the right strategy for you.

Benefits of Recapitalization

Tips to Minimize Fighting Over Your Estate Plan

Published on: March 17, 2017 | by Ettinger Law Firm

Estate planning is not something that should be taken lightly, and understanding the gravity that comes with your estate planning decisions is an important part of creating a comprehensive estate plan. However, one of the most common problems with estate plans is that while they may accurately reflect your wishes, they don’t always reflect what your family thinks those wishes should be. That can leave them vulnerable to attack in court, which can cause unintended consequences for your assets. Aside from utilizing the services of an experienced estate planning attorney, there are some ways to avoid common issues that can give rise to litigation of an estate plan.

Pay Attention to Laws of Intestate Succession

Intestate succession laws help determine how a person’s assets are to be divided when they die if that person has no Will or their Will is found to be invalid. While you are certainly free to distribute your estate as you see fit, understanding the laws of intestate succession can help you distribute your estate in a way that will discourage Will contests because beneficiaries that stand to benefit little from having a Will invalidated will often think twice about doing so.

Follow-up Care for Your Estate Plan

Published on: February 14, 2017 | by Ettinger Law Firm

Estate planning is an important step in making sure your assets are secure and will be distributed according to your wishes when you die. It can be a complicated procedure, but an experienced New York estate planning attorney can help you make sure that your estate plan is comprehensive and in line with your particular wishes. However, it is important to remember that once you create an estate plan you should take steps to make sure it is secure and remember circumstances may arise that require you to revisit your estate plan and even possibly revise it.

Where should you keep your estate plan?

It is important to keep your estate plan in a secure location with limited access that will protect it from being damaged. Some individuals choose to use a safe deposit box at a bank while other choose a secure home safe option. If you elect to use a safe deposit box at a bank, it can sometimes be difficult to access that box if you pass away. This difficulty will prolong opening your estate and carrying out your wishes. However, safe deposit boxes do offer an extra layer of security for important documents within an estate plan.