4Thought Blog

When a loved one who was "financially comfortable" passes away, his or her family must deal with the emotional issues that come with the loss — as well as winding up the decedent's financial affairs.

Surviving family members are often unprepared for the tax issues that may arise when a loved one dies. Here's some guidance to help you manage important tax and financial considerations during this difficult time.

Estate planning isn't just for the rich and famous. Many people mistakenly think that they don't need an estate plan anymore because of the latest tax law changes.

While it's true that the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act provides generous estate tax relief, even for well-to-do families, the need for estate planning has not been eliminated. There are still numerous reasons to develop a comprehensive estate plan and regularly update it.

CPAs are best suited to evaluate the tax consequences of estate plans. Business owners and other high-net-worth individuals should strongly consider making or updating an estate plan to reduce estate taxes and ensure your assets are distributed according to your wishes.

Beneficial rules for the generation-skipping transfer (GST) tax are currently in force, which may allow you to pass on assets to future generations without a federal tax bill.

GST Tax Basics

When it comes to arranging for gifts and bequests to loved ones, most planning strategies focus on avoiding or minimizing the federal gift and estate taxes. Rightly so. But there's one more piece to the puzzle. It's called the generation skipping transfer tax. The GST tax is intended to snare those who would try to foil the federal gift and estate tax system by transferring wealth to persons more than one generation younger than themselves (typically grandchildren).

Are you interested in setting up a private foundation?

With this approach, you make contributions to a foundation and get a charitable tax deduction just as you would with any qualified organization. Then, as the director, you decide which charities you want to make distributions to so you retain control of the assets.

Effective January 1, 2018, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 (TCJA) reduces individual and corporate tax rates, eliminates a host of deductions and credits, enhances other breaks and makes numerous additional changes.

One thing the TCJA doesn’t do is repeal the federal gift and estate tax, as originally contemplated by the House of Representative’s version of the bill. It does, however, temporarily double the combined gift and estate tax exemption and the generation-skipping transfer (GST) tax exemption, creating new estate planning challenges and opportunities.

So many moments in our lives we come to a fork in the road. Should I or shouldn’t I? Left or right?

One of these crossroads may be a decision of whether or not to be named a trustee of a trust. It is not a decision to be made lightly. Before you decide whether to take on both the honor and responsibility of being a trustee, there are several factors to take into consideration which may help you in making that decision.

For many people with large estates, planning ahead and gifting to family members can save a bundle in taxes. This ultimately means your heirs may get more and Uncle Sam may get less. But before you start stuffing checks in envelopes and passing them out to your loved ones, you should know the basics of gifting. This article explains the current rules.

Even if you have a valid will, you may need to draft a new one for a variety of reasons. A will is an essential part of planning for the future.

But don't think creating a will is a one-time proposition. Here are seven reasons to strongly consider updating your will:

Establishing an estate plan is one of the most important steps you can take to protect yourself and your loved ones. In addition to saving taxes, it’s essential to ensure your assets will be distributed according to your wishes.

In many instances, people spend more time planning a family vacation than they do planning their estates. They look at estate planning as a burden instead of an opportunity. You’ve worked hard your whole life to provide for your family and make your loved ones more secure, so be sure to have an estate plan.