When you gift your grandchildren assets it can do more than help your descendants get a good start in life -- it can also reduce the size of your estate and the tax that will be due upon your death. Perhaps the simplest approach to gifting is to give the grandchild an outright gift.
Acting as an agent under a power of attorney is a big responsibility and it isn’t something everyone can take on. It is possible to resign or refuse the position. There are two main types of powers of attorney – financial and medical. As the agent under a power of attorney, you act in place
Serving as a trustee of a trust can be a huge responsibility, so trustees are entitled to compensation for their work. The amount of compensation depends on the type of trustee and the complexity of the trust. Depending on the trust, a trustee’s duties can include managing trust assets, making distributions to beneficiaries, paying taxes,
Tax day, which is Tuesday, April 19 in 2022, is approaching and it is time to begin crossing T's and dotting I's in preparation for paying taxes. As tax time draws near, you want to make sure you file all the proper forms and take all deductions you're entitled to. Following are some things to keep in
When loved ones pass away, there are lots of considerations, including what happens to their Social Security. The decedent’s payments need to be stopped, but survivor’s benefits may be available to the spouse or, in certain cases, children. Social Security benefits stop at death. If a loved one who was receiving Social Security dies, you
Depending on which statistics you believe, between 40 and 50 percent of first marriages will end in divorce or permanent separation, and second marriages fare even worse. While there is no such thing as a "typical" divorce, a divorcing couple that has a child with special needs faces an even more complicated series of
Medicare and health insurance don’t pay for long-term nursing home care. Medicaid, does, but impoverishment is the price of admission to the Medicaid program. Proper planning enables one to qualify for Medicaid benefits while protecting substantial assets for spouse and family. In order to qualify, applicants must prove that they have limited income and assets.
The maximum amount that can be contributed each year to an ABLE account for a person with disabilities rose $1,000 to $16,000 on January 1, 2022. The figure, which is tied to the inflation-adjusted value of the IRS’s gift tax annual exclusion, had been stuck at $15,000 since 2018. Pennsylvania and 45 other states offer ABLE
Being able to make health care decisions for ourselves is so important to us, but what happens if you become incapacitated and are unable to voice your opinion? If you don’t have a health care power of attorney or guardian in place, state law chooses who can make those decisions. In an emergency, medical providers
With the fate of the estate tax exemption uncertain, you may want to use the current large exemption to transfer assets to a trust to benefit your spouse. A spousal lifetime access trust (SLAT) can help transfer assets outside of your estate. The current federal estate tax exemption is $11.7 million for individuals and $23.4
