Getting a step-up in basis when each spouse dies can be a big tax advantage. It has not been available to those who live in common-law states. However, it may now be–through a community property trust.
As retirement nears, you may be wondering when to start taking Social Security payments. These benefits are primarily based on your earnings during your working years and your age when you start receiving benefits.
A qualified terminable interest property (QTIP) trust allows an individual, called the grantor, to leave assets for a surviving spouse and determine how the trust’s assets are split up after the surviving spouse dies.
Estate planning is not just for the wealthy. Anyone with a bank account, house, car or other personal property should have a will.
When someone dies with money left in an Individual Retirement Account (IRA), the funds can get passed on to the person’s loved ones through an inherited IRA.
Traditional, very simple estate planning may not be sufficient to accomplish estate planning goals in many blended family situations.
It may sound like it makes sense, and it might be easier than picking a person (or two) to name, however there are some serious downsides to naming your estate as the beneficiary for your IRA.
The IRS issued a revenue procedure (Rev. Proc. 2022-32) Friday that allows estates to elect ‘portability’ of a deceased spousal unused exclusion (DSUE) amount as much as five years after the decedent’s date of death.
People shopping for funeral or cremation services may be particularly vulnerable to overpaying or being swindled, which is why experts say it is important to be cautious when making those decisions.
