Shimada Law Blog
How to protect your children with an estate plan
When your first child was born, you could not imagine caring for anyone more. Your children are your world and you would do anything for them. This includes making sure they are always taken care of and protected. But how can you ensure your children will be provided for if something should happen to you in the future?
In fact, you can protect your children and help secure their future with an estate plan. Estate planning will help you make sure your children will be okay even after you can no longer help provide for them.
Who will raise the children if both parents pass away?
It is something you and spouse never even considered. The thought of not being around to raise your children. It just cannot happen. Someone must raise them, be there for them and support them. Unfortunately, it is true for some couples. So, you must consider the possibility. Who will raise your children if and you and your spouse die?
Your children’s future depends on if you took time to write a will or not. When you write your will, you will need to decide who to designate as your children’s legal guardian.
A plan as unique as your life
If you have a family, you need an estate plan. It is about much more than passing on money, business, or property. An estate plan makes everything easier for those you love when something happens to you.
That doesn’t mean that it has to be complicated or involved. It may simply involve a will and an advance directive should you be comatose or otherwise incapacitated. You may have a lot of assets which you would like to pass on or given to a charity. But in all cases, making your wishes known is essential, and the plan you develop should be as unique as you.
A Surprising Reason Why You Need Estate Planning More Than Ever
Estate planning, in its broadest sense, is a way to turn your wishes into a plan and make them legally binding. It encompasses things such as giving money for grandchildren’s college funds, stating who you would like to raise your children if you could not and establishing a financial power of attorney.
One of Forbes’ first lists of the new year underscores another reason Oregonians need to prioritize their estate planning. Oregon is named by Forbes Magazine as one of the states on their “ in 2018” list. One of the reasons is because Oregon has a state estate tax, and another is because the tax exempts only one million dollars of assets. Here are some ways you and your heirs can benefit while reducing or eliminating your state estate tax responsibility.
How women can prepare for the risk of being suddenly single
While the possibility of being single can have a big impact on either spouse, women are often more likely to face more challenges if they are to suddenly become widowed.
One reason for this is that women tend to be less involved when discussing their family’s wealth management strategy. Even though the traditional gender roles of money management are shifting, men are still overwhelmingly driving conversations about money.
How to talk to the family about the money
Many people who have accumulated wealth want to keep the money in the family. However, discussing that wealth can make for an awkward conversation. Some people see conversations about money, even with loved ones, as taboo, while others don’t want their children or grandchildren to lose their motivation or work ethic if they know they have a significant inheritance coming.
According to USA Today, 64 percent of people do not have an estate plan. The apprehension to talk about money is natural, but it could be contributing to the startling statistics related to wealth and estate planning. Failing to make an estate plan can have significant consequences for business owners and people with diversified portfolios.
Five estate planning mistakes to avoid
Reaching certain milestones in life gives you a unique perspective on and clarity about the future. Perhaps as it is as you prepare to you walk down the aisle or as you prepare to welcome your first child into the world. These moments often make you stop to take the essential step of writing an estate plan to create concrete plans for the future.
However, according to Fortune, despite the best intentions you may have to create a good estate plan, you may not achieve your goal. You may make some of the five most common mistakes that many people make.
3 smart options for passing on your family business
The baby boomer generation is full of entrepreneurs. Many have chosen a path of independence and cultivated successful businesses. As the generation matures many baby boomers are making decisions about the future of their companies. Deciding the best way to pass on a family business can be complicated. There are multiple choices to pick from and each one has its own repercussions. The following list does not include every possible option but highlights some popular choices.
1. Pass the business on as a gift
Some business owners prefer to give their company to heirs in the form of a gift. This option is complicated by state gift tax. Under federal law business owners can give up to $5.45 million before gift tax kicks in. Unfortunately that number is the total amount of assets passed on to your heirs, which can include your house, stocks, and bonds. If the business is shared between you and your spouse then a married couple can give up to $10.9 million in total before taxes. This option is great for some small business owners but many choose another way to save money.
Civil Contempt and Offshore Trusts
So you read online somewhere about some guy named Anderson or Lawrence and how they went to jail for civil contempt because they settled an offshore trust. Scared? Don’t be. Anderson and Lawrence (as well as every other case) are very fact-specific cases. Lets discuss both of them as well as some others.
What is the Difference between a Will and a Revocable Living Trust?
To understand what a will is, you must first understand what Probate is. Probate is a court process where the court names an executor to gather property of the decedent, pay any creditors of the decedent out of that property, and ultimately distributes the property to the decedent’s heirs. Example: Mom dies, leaving two sons, Andrew and Bart. Bart petitions the court to become the executor, and the court complies and names him executor. Bart collects money from mom’s bank accounts, and sells her house and adds the sale proceeds to the estate. After all of Mom’s creditors are paid, Bart distributes the proceeds to himself and Bart.