Friday, October 09, 2009

Press Coverage of Estate Planning This Week (October 9, 2009)

John Wyckoff writes in the Daily Journal of Commerce (Portland, Ore.) about how to keep passwords to online financial accounts secure, yet available to your survivors after your death. This is particularly important if you have chosen to receive online statements only, rather than paper copies of statements in the mail. See Don’t Keep Passwords Completely Secret (Oct. 6, 2009).

Suzie Moraco writes in NewsChief.com (Winter Haven, Fla.) on how to raise the issue of estate planning with your parents, with tips on how to initiate the discussion and an overview of the principal estate planning documents. See Estate Planning Can Be a Vital Dialogue (Oct. 5, 2009).

Jason Zweig of the Wall Street Journal suggests that low interest rates provide a good time to transfer wealth to your children. One way to do this is acting as a bank if your children are a good credit risk. Other techniques include self-cancelling installment notes (SCIN), grantor retained annuity trusts (GRAT), and intentionally defective grantor trusts (IDGT). See Transferring Wealth Via the Bank of Mom & Dad (Oct. 3, 2009).

Justin Satchit writes in the American Chronicle regarding charitable remainder trusts (CRT). He notes that three important developments occurred in late 2008 that impact CRTs generally, and provides an overview of CRT benefits. See Charitable Remainder Trust Update (Oct. 9, 2009).