A: It is very common and understandable for people to set up their estate plan assuming all the people you want to leave money to are still living at the time of your own death. However, far too many court battles have taken place due to a lack of contingency...
A: A trust restatement is essentially an amendment of your entire trust that replaces all of the provisions of your original trust with new provisions to meet your current goals. It is a great option if you have an older trust that needs to be updated, if you have...
A: Business interests, whether a sole proprietorship, an LLC, a corporation, or a different type, are quickly and easily transferred into a trust by signing and notarizing a legal document titled "Assignment of Business Interest". We prepare these "Assignments"...
A: Each bank has requirements for transferring your bank accounts to a trust so you will want to contact them to ask what their process is. We always facilitate the process for our clients by preparing a cover letter and a certification of trust that our clients can...
A: In California, real estate is transferred into a trust by signing a grant deed. The grant deed, which must also must be notarized and recorded, states the owners of the property (the Grantors) are conveying all their interest to their Trust (the Grantee). We...
A: Your assets are the “sandwiches” that go inside the basket. REMEMBER: to have a picnic, you need both a picnic basket AND sandwiches inside the basket. Next week, we’ll talk about tips to make sure you are able to pack all of your “food” (your assets) inside your...
A: On top of the $16,000 annual exclusion, each person also gets a $12.06 million lifetime exclusion (married couples can exclude double that amount in lifetime gifts). Everything over the annual exclusion amount spills over into the lifetime exclusion bucket. For...
A: We’ve crafted a bullet point list of everything you need to know! In 2022, you can gift up to $16,000 ($15,000 in 2021) to any one person in a year, generally without having to file a gift tax return to disclose the gift. The annual exclusion is per recipient, and...
A: There are two different exclusions that allow you to avoid gift tax: the annual gift tax exclusion ($15,000 per year in 2021 and $16,000 per year in 2022) and the lifetime gift tax exclusion amount ($11.7 million in 2021 and $12.06 million in 2022). When you gift...
