How often should you review your trust and estate plan? Is there a regular cycle to these reviews, or should they be driven by significant events in your life or the lives of your beneficiaries and executor or trustee? How will the next few years in Congress impact trust and...
Passing a Business or Wealth to Your Children
A well-structured trust is a central estate planning tool for small businesses and closely held family business owners when passing a business or wealth to your children. This includes heirs, beneficiaries, and future generations of your family and spouses while minimizing the impact of taxation and maximizing control. The state...
Trust and Estate Planning for Business Owners
Why is the end of the year a good time to consider trust and estate planning for business owners. Do you own real property or have other investments outside of your business interests? Have you given any thought to what would happen if you become ill or incapacitated and are...
Update your Trust and Estate Plan Regularly to Protect Your Interests
It is important to update your trust and estate plan regularly to protect your interests and meet the changing requirements of your future while integrating changes in law and best practices to provide for every potential scenario. "We were meaning to make some changes when Bob's health rapidly declined -...
The Immediate Importance of Estate Planning
What is the immediate importance of estate planning and why should any parent, business owner, homeowner, or those nearing retirement be focused on this issue? Why do most people delay one of the most critical financial and personal planning issues during their life (and after)? What changes are approaching within...
The Step-Up Benefit of a Revocable Trust
What is the step-up benefit of a revocable trust from the perspective of the beneficiaries? How can a revocable trust not only pass money and assets to your beneficiaries but save a substantial amount of tax in the process? The answer lies in an understanding of the short-term and long-term...
Remarriage and a Blended Family – It’s Time for a New or Updated Estate Plan
Are you considering remarriage? Do you and/or your spouse have children from a previous marriage? If so, remarriage and a blended family are excellent reasons for a new or updated estate plan. Blended families are quickly becoming the "norm" here in San Diego and across the U.S. What do you...
Passing Assets and Accounts to Your Heirs Is About To Become Much More Difficult
If you are in the process of long-term estate planning or updating an existing estate plan, the process for passing assets and accounts to your heirs is about to become much more difficult and expensive. Presently, each individual can pass $13.61 million in assets to beneficiaries and future generations without...
Estate Planning for Business Owners
What are some of the fundamental issues when estate planning for business owners? Why should every business owner have an estate plan? What are some of the primary issues to address in an effective estate plan for those who own an interest in a business or professional practice? What happens...