Friday, April 08, 2011 Recent Press Coverage of Estate Planning (April 8, 2011)
Bill Bischoff of SmartMoney contends that even though the federal estate tax exemption has risen, people still need an estate plan to avoid having their assets pass according to their state’s default intestate rules. The article provides a quick overview of wills, living trusts and other estate planning options. See Why Most People Need An Estate Plan (Mar. 22, 2011)
Ashlea Ebeling of Forbes writes about how to handle an inheritance. There’s an estimated $8.4 trillion that will pass to baby boomers, an average of nearly $300,000 per inheriting household, and boomers are finding many different ways to use the money. See The Inheritors (Apr. 11, 2011).
Susan Hirshman writes in Forbes about wives that should be acting now to protect their interests. She notes that some estate plans allocate up to the federal estate tax threshold to one’s children, with the surviving spouse receiving the rest. With a high exemption level of $5 million, that could leave the wife with nothing. See Why Women Need An Estate Plan (Mar. 23, 2011).
Deborah L. Jacobs of Forbes discusses the new portability law that allows a surviving spouse to use the decedent spouse’s unused estate tax exemption amount, and argues that even though this provision is set to expire at the end of 2012, it could stick around beyond that, so it behooves you to understand how it works and prepare for it. See Estate Planning for Two (Apr. 1, 2011).
Linda Covella of the Santa Cruz Patch discusses the differences between wills and trusts, offers pros and cons for each approach, and reviews the role of an attorney in the process. See Wills and Trusts: Which Will You Trust for Your Estate Planning? (Apr. 3, 2011).
Deborah L. Jacobs of Forbes provides a short overview of the gift tax law, gift tax returns, and offers some Q&A regarding whether a gift tax return should accompany your income tax return this April. See Time to File That Gift Tax Return (Apr. 1, 2011). |