Medical Directives: To appoint individuals
who will make medical decisions during times of incapacitation;
to specify the medical treatment [not] to be administered
in certain medical situations; to appoint individuals to serve
as guardian during times of incapacitation; to specify organ
donation.
Powers of Attorney: To appoint individuals
who will make financial decisions during times of incapacitation.
Simple (I love You) Wills: To pass property
to one or more family members outright; to eliminate unnecessary
costs and expenses associated with probate; to designate guardianship
over minor children.
Wills with Credit Shelter/Bypass Trusts:
In addition to the standard benefits of preparing a will,
to use a special trust which avoids estate taxes, but which
may provide income and/or principal for a surviving spouse
and/or named beneficiaries.
Wills with Qualified Terminable Interest Property
Trusts (Qtip): In addition to the standard benefits
of preparing a will, to use a special trust which provides
income and principal for a surviving spouse and prevents anyone
from defrauding the funds from a surviving spouse. Also allows
for the ultimate distribution to named beneficiaries, thus
providing security for children of prior marriages.
Wills with Generation Skipping Trusts: In
addition to the standard benefits of preparing a will, to
use a special trust which allocates funds in a manner which
maximizes both the Unified Tax Credit and the Exemption for
Generation Skipping Taxes, to pass the maximum amount of property
to the named beneficaries, while minimizing estate and gift
taxes over two to three generations.
Revocable Living Trusts: To provide security
in the event of incapacitaiton and to provide for the management
and ultimate disposition of assets after death. These may
be utilized in addition to or instead of complex Wills. If
used instead of a complex Will, it should be used in conjunction
with a Pour-Over Will. The Pour-Over Will provides all of
the benefits of a standard Will, but then "Pours- Over"
the assets, which are not in Trust, into the Revocable Living
Trust, to be disposed of pursuant to the terms of the Trust.
Irrevocable Living Trusts: For the management
of assets during life; to provide for the management and ultimate
disposition of assets after death; to receive gifts during
life, which reduce the size of the taxable estate prior to
death, to receive assets after death for their management
and ultimate disposition.
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