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Know Your Estate Plan and the Tax Consequences of it

By David M. Goldman

With the new estate tax laws that will soon be put in place, more Americans hard by the estate tax. However, there is more to estate planning than simple tax avoidance. Estate planning and Florida Estate Planning is about the legacy you want to leave behind after you are gone. Everyone will leave behind some sort of legacy therefore planning for it will enable others remember you the way you want them to.

There are four major goals that should be considered when legacy planning and working with a Florida Estate Planning Lawyer can help you understand and reach these goals more efficiently.

1. Financial security for you and your family is a priority. When you establish a legacy it usually entails providing money or other assets for heirs. It is important to know that your own standard of living is secure before you decide what to give to others. Once your lifestyle is secure, establishing goals for the ultimate disposition of your wealth can improve the financial security of others.

2. Continuing the management and care taking of the estate. In many estates, regardless of the size, assets can dwindle rapidly after the first owners pass them on to the next generation of beneficiaries. Often the successors of an estate do not understand how the assets were to be managed or did not share the same values of the founder. If you believe the people you want to benefit from the trust are not likely to manage their wealth properly over the long term, a trust can help manage these expectations and provide additional guidance for your descendants.

3. Protecting the estate is another key element of the planning process. Most people do not want their assets to be handed over to potential creditors or subjected to lawsuits. Small business owners and professionals as well as disgruntled family members, irresponsible family members, and ex-family members in divorces all potentially could claim they are a creditor of the estate or your beneficiaries assets. It is important to structure the assets to allow for protection from as many types of creditors as possible.

4. The estate planning should address potential estate taxes. Once you have established who should benefit from your estate, you may want to begin to transfer assets to them. Some methods can create larger tax burdens and often by using a properly structured estate plan, estate taxes can be reduced.

Reducing the tax burden that will be put on the estate and its beneficiaries is only one goals of a legacy plan. Now is the time to start determining your goals and putting your plan together.

If you have a Florida Estate Plan that you would like to review or want to create a new Florida Estate Plan contact a Jacksonville Estate Planning Lawyer or Florida Estate Planning Lawyer to discuss your goals and objectives.

Full post as published by Florida Estate Planning Lawyer Blog on July 12, 2010 (boomark / email).