Remove Beneficiary Designations on Non-Retirement Accounts
Non-retirement investment accounts are often set up with wealth management firms. When the account is set up, there is an option to put a beneficiary designation on the account and…
Fractional Ownership of Family Property
In most families, the parents dream of leaving a legacy to their children. Of course, the parents want to create a legacy in terms of intrinsic family values and ethics…
Moving Out of State to Avoid the Washington Estate Tax
Washington state estate tax got you thinking of moving away? Maybe other things have you thinking of relocating and the estate tax is just the straw that broke the camel’s…
New Transfer on Death Deed Avoids Probate and Seamlessly Transfers Land
One of the challenges facing an individual that owns property outside of his or her state of residence is the fact that a person’s estate generally must go through probate…
The Multi-Pronged Approach to Paying for Your Child’s Education
As higher education costs continue to rise, it’s important to consider how best to fund your child’s or grandchild’s education. I propose a multi-pronged approach to utilize tax-advantaged 529 plans,…
Spousal Trust for Protection for Your Spouse (or From Your Spouse)
A trust set up for the benefit of your spouse can provide powerful protection for your spouse while at the same time protect your vision for the ultimate distribution of…
Charitable Lead Trust
What is a charitable giving technique that doubles as a wealth transfer technique to avoid estate taxes and at the same time works especially well in a low-interest rate environment…
Protecting Your Address is Possible, But Complicated
In the world of property privacy planning, it would be nice if a single solution existed to protect a person and his or her assets from the preying eyes of…
Beneficiary Designations (Retirement Accounts and Insurance)
One of the biggest areas that is often overlooked in an estate plan are the seemingly innocuous beneficiary designations tied to assets like retirement accounts and life insurance. The beneficiary…
The Prototypical Will
Sometimes it’s hard to see the forest through the trees. This is as true for sophisticated estate planning as it is for anything else. It’s worthwhile then to step back…
