manhattan estate planning

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.

Estate Planning and Private Annuities

Published on: May 10, 2017 | by Ettinger Law Firm

As we remind our clients, tax concerns are a major part of a comprehensive estate planning strategy. Anticipating the potential tax consequences related to your estate as well as those that might arise prior to, during, or after the disposition of your assets is an integral part of making sure your loved ones don’t inherit a significant tax burden that limits the amount of assets you pass to them. For some individuals, private annuities may offer a way to avoid the high costs of estate taxes, gift taxes, and other taxes related to estate planning.

The Benefits of Private Annuities

Basically, private annuities can be used to help reduce your potential estate tax liability while avoiding the gift tax and securing a steady stream of income for the grantor. They are termed “private” because they are privately structured rather than created by some commercial entity. A private annuity allows the individual to essentially transfer that asset to the heir in exchange for lifetime payments for the property. As the person receiving the property will be paying the grantor for it, private annuities typically count as a sale instead of as a gift of property.

Understanding Donor Advised Funds

Published on: May 5, 2017 | by Ettinger Law Firm

Many individuals want to make sure that part of their estate is dedicated to their favorite charitable causes, and many make the move to guarantee this during their lifetime. There are several ways to do this. Some individuals may consider structuring an endowment while other may choose deferred gifts or planned giving. Another vehicle to ensure your charitable wishes are carried out can include the creation of a private foundation. However, for some people, the best option for charitable donations during one’s lifetime and after might be to create a donor advised fund.

The Basics of a Donor Advised Fund

When we give to various charities, their tax status allows us to take advantage of a tax deduction. However, in order for our donations to qualify as tax deductible, the organization must typically be registered as what is known as a 501(c)(3) organization. These types of organizations must comply with certain rules established by the IRS, including restricted political and legislative activity while following other important guidelines. The IRS defines a donor advised fund as a fund or account that is maintained and operated by a 501(c)(3) organization known as the sponsoring organization.

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.

Estate Planning and Debt

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

Estate planning is a complex process that involves a great deal of attention to detail. However, truly comprehensive estate planning goes beyond creating a Last Will and Testament or even a trust and includes things like understanding how debt will affect your estate once you die. The best way to avoid the negative effects of debt on your estate is, of course, to avoid debt. However, that is often impossible to do today. In fact, according to sources cited by a recent Yahoo! Finance article around 73 percent of Americans have outstanding debt when they die with an average debt of $62,000 per person. As such, it is important to understand your debt as well as how to manage it appropriately to minimize any potential financial burden such debt could cost your loved ones.

Different Types of Debt

There are several different types of debt, and understanding the differences between them as well as how each type will affect you can help you understand how to manage them. The first type of debt is secured debt. Secured debt is debt that has been guaranteed by some type of collateral. This allows lenders to provide better interest rates on secured debt because a default on such debt typically awards the collateral to the lender. The most common examples of secured debt include residences and vehicles.

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.

Don’t Discount Social Security in Estate Planning

Published on: April 26, 2017 | by Ettinger Law Firm

One of the most important components of estate planning is ensuring that you have an in-depth understanding of your assets. Not only is this important at the onset of estate planning, but it is an important factor to consider when looking down the road to the future. With lawmakers painting a sometimes bleak and uncertain future for social security, many individuals are looking at ways to plan for their financial future in case they are unable to rely solely on social security. While this is certainly a wise financial move, discounting social security’s impact on your estate can be a costly mistake.

As it stands now, social security provides a steady stream of monthly income when conditions for its receipt are met. That’s not likely to drastically change anytime soon. Given that the current projected life expectancy for those turning 65 this year is approximately 85, those monthly payments could add up to around $1 million over the terms of period of installments. A recent article from MarketWatch.com reminds us that we should not discount the impact social security can have on our estates, and an experienced estate planning attorney can help you understand what social security benefits can meant to your estate.

Social Security as a Safety Net

Estate Tax Portability Elections and Extensions

Published on: April 23, 2017 | by Ettinger Law Firm

Laws governing estate planning are extremely complex and can change frequently. Working with an experienced estate planning attorney can help you anticipate changes to applicable laws as well as adjust your estate plan to continue providing the benefits you want whenever the law does change. One of the most misunderstood elements of estate planning involves the estate tax. Many individuals don’t believe the estate tax will apply to them because their estates are not large enough to exceed the exemption allowed, which in 2017 is $5.49 million for individuals and $10.98 million for married couples. While this is often true, many people often don’t calculate the value of their estate correctly. Even an otherwise average estate can exceed the exemption limit, especially if you factor in one spouse dying first and the second spouse inheriting the bulk of first spouse’s estate. However, there are tools that can protect your assets from the estate tax by keeping it within your allotted exemption amount.

Portability Elections

A portability election is a tool available to spouse’s that survive the other spouse. When one person in a marriage dies, their estate is totaled to determine what – if any – tax consequences are triggered. When a first-to-die spouse’s estate is completely covered by the individual estate tax exemption and the bulk of the assets within that estate pass to the surviving spouse, this can cause the surviving spouse’s estate to surpass the individual estate tax exemption limit so that the combined value of the estates of both the first-to-die spouse and surviving spouse are taxed when the surviving spouse passes away. A portability election allows a surviving spouse to use leftover exemption amounts from the first-to-die spouse so there is a chance that the surviving spouse’s personal exemption can be combined with the leftover exemption from the first-to-die spouse to shield the surviving spouse’s estate from the estate tax, too.

Estate Planning and Intellectual Property

Published on: March 30, 2017 | by Ettinger Law Firm

The World Intellectual Property Organization defines intellectual property as “creations of the mind, such as inventions; literary and artistic works; designs; and symbols, names, and images sued in commerce.” Typically, intellectual property is protected by legal mechanisms such as patents, trademarks, and copyrights that help people achieve and maintain recognition and financial benefits from things they have created. While intellectual property has many specific laws to help govern it and some attorneys choose to focus their practice on intellectual property law, intellectual property is personal property and can be an important part of comprehensive estate planning.

Distributing Intellectual Property

There are several considerations that come into play when determining how to distribute intellectual property. For some people, intellectual property can be the main source of their financial livelihood. Others may have inherited or otherwise acquired certain intellectual property rights throughout their lifetime and use them for supplemental income purposes. Regardless of the way in which you came to possess intellectual property, if you want to continue benefiting from it then you can and should keep personal possession of it until you no longer depend on or desire the income from it. If you do maintain control over intellectual property, make sure that you have provided for its distribution in your estate planning in case of unforeseen circumstances.