Estate Planning
Estate planning can be complicated. At our firm, our goal is to educate you about the types of planning available to you and to assist you in determining the best plan to protect you, your assets and your loved ones in the future.
Going through a probate court proceeding can be time consuming and costly and places a significant burden upon your loved ones. With proper planning, this issue can most times be avoided.
Our estate planning attorneys assist our clients with:
- Simple and complex wills and trusts
- Powers of attorney
- Healthcare directives (living wills)
- Non-probate transfers
- Business succession planning
- Probate administration
- Life insurance planning
- Estate and gift tax reduction and avoidance
- Estate and gift tax return preparation
Federal Estate Tax
The federal estate tax may affect your estate. Currently, if your total net worth, including the proceeds of life insurance on your life, is less than $3,500,000.00, the federal estate tax will not affect you. If your net estate, which includes the proceeds from life insurance that you own on you life, exceeds the above exemption in the year that you die, estate tax will be due, starting at 45% of the amount over the exemption.
The following table shows the progression:
| Year |
Increase from Prior Year |
Exempt Amount |
Rate on Excess |
| 2009 |
1,500,000 |
$3,500,000 |
45% |
| 2010 |
|
Unlimited |
None |
| 2011 |
|
$1,000,000 |
41-55% |
The exemption from the federal estate tax has been increased to $3,500,000. In 2010, the estate tax is eliminated. However, in 2011, the estate tax is reinstituted with a $1,000,000 exemption. If your estate ever approaches these figures for the relevant year, please contact an estate planning attorney so that planning tactics may be employed to minimize the effect of the estate tax on your estate.
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