555 Sun Valley Drive Suite N-4 |
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Roswell, Georgia 30076 |
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Telephone (770) 992-4325 |
Fax (770) 992-4367 |
Wills |
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Trusts |
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Estate Planning |
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Wills |
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What is a Will? |
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A legal document, signed and witnessed in accordance with Georgia law, designating:
To make some very important choices. Your Will allows you to:
Yes. Property titled as Joint Tenants With Right of Survivorship will pass to the surviving tenant upon your death, but this does not take into account the possible death of both joint owners. You need a Will to specify who will receive the property after the death of both joint owners. Also, most people do not have 100% of their property titled as Joint Tenants With Right of Survivorship. So, in many cases, holding property in Joint Tenancy does not completely avoid the probate process. In addition, Joint Tenancy needs to be carefully considered as part of an overall estate plan. Sometimes, having property titled this way interferes with a client’s intended disposition of property.
Example: Client wants 2/3 of his property to go to his current wife, and 1/3 to go to his two children from his first marriage, and has a Will that so provides. However, in consulting with the client and reviewing how his property is owned, we learn that 90% of his property is titled as Joint Tenants with Right of Survivorship with his current wife. So, only 10% of his estate will be available to go to the children from his first marriage. To correct this, it is necessary to change the title to some real estate and several bank accounts, taking them out of the joint tenancy, to ensure that the client’s Will operates as he intended.
Then state law will control, and the court will make decisions for you.
Example: A 55 year-old man died of a heart attack, and left no Will. He was married, and had three adult children from his prior marriage. He had a strained relationship with his children, and rarely saw them. His wife assumed that she would inherit everything from her husband. In fact, under Georgia law she received only 1/3 of his probate estate, with the remaining 2/3 being split among his adult children from his first marriage.
Example: A 38 year-old woman and her 40 year-old husband were killed in an auto accident. They had no children, and neither of them had a Will. They had a very close relationship with his parents and his brothers and sisters and nieces and nephews. Her parents were deceased, and she had only one sibling, a brother, whom they disliked and rarely visited. The husband died at the scene of the accident, while she lingered and died three days later in the hospital. Under Georgia law, since the husband died first, the wife inherited all of his property at the time of his death. When she died three days later, all of their joint property went to the wife’s brother.
Example: A 35 year-old woman died of cancer. She had no Will. She was married and had two small children. Her husband assumed that he would inherit everything from his wife. In fact, under Georgia law, he received only 1/3 of her probate estate, with the remaining 2/3 being split among the two children and being subject to formal guardianship under court supervision, because the children were minors. The moral of these stories is …. make your Will now, while you are healthy and mentally capable. In today’s world, none of us knows what tomorrow may hold.
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A trust is an arrangement in which one person (the Trustee) holds and manages property for the benefit of another person (the Beneficiary).
We are happy to discuss whether a Living Trust would be appropriate for you.
Trusts can be used for many purposes. For persons who are elderly or incapacitated, setting up a trust with an institutional trustee (such as a bank or trust company) provides professional asset management and practical assistance, such as payment of monthly bills. Trusts can also be an important estate planning tool for those seeking to avoid federal estate taxes, make charitable gifts, or protect assets for future generations.
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Estate Planning |
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What Is Estate Planning? |
Estate planning is the process of developing a strategy for the distribution of your property after your death, so that your property goes to the persons you want to benefit, and in a way that minimizes or avoids estate taxes.
We can structure your Will and use different types of Trusts to help you achieve this important life goal.
Anyone who owns enough property to be subject to federal estate taxes. For 2009, that means anyone with a net estate valued at more than $3.5 million.
To see if you are over the $3.5 million exemption amount, you should add up the value of all your property and assets. This generally includes your primary residence, any other real estate you may own, bank accounts, brokerage accounts, stocks, bonds, pension accounts, 401(k) plans, IRAs, any interest you own in a family business, automobiles, boats, valuable art objects, jewelry, plus the benefit payable under any life insurance policies on your life, less your outstanding debts.
It's risky to assume that you can ignore estate tax if you have an estate that's close to the current limit. We can help you establish a flexible plan to avoid estate tax that will be there if you need it, if the value of your estate grows over the next few years.
The rates are quite high. For 2009, the rate is 45%.
This would depend on the particulars of your estate, but here are some estimates, based on the rates that would apply to a person dying this year (in 2009):
Value of Estate |
Amount of Estate Tax |
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$ 4,000,000 |
$ 225,000 |
$ 5,000,000 |
$ 675,000 |
$ 6,000,000 |
$ 1,125,000 |
$ 7,000,000 |
$ 1,575,000 |
Yes! We can help you establish a plan that in most cases will avoid or substantially reduce your estate tax.
For example, many married couples with combined estates valued at up to $7 million may be able to avoid estate tax altogether. And we can show most clients how to substantially reduce their estate taxes.
We use several different legal strategies to help you avoid estate tax, depending on your situation. These strategies include:
• Credit Shelter or "Bypass" Trusts
• Disclaimer Trusts
• Irrevocable Life Insurance Trusts
• Charitable Lead Trusts
• Charitable Remainder Trusts
• Tax-Free Lifetime Gifts
Absolutely not. We work with many clients in their 30s and 40s. It is wise to plan ahead to protect your family, and not lose 45% or more of your estate to the I.R.S.
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© 2010 by Baker & Stalzer, LLC. All rights reserved. IMPORTANT: The material in this web site is provided for general informational purposes only; it is not intended to constitute legal advice. Please see our Disclaimer page for further information. |
