Smart Estate Planning Moves for Complex Estates

A comprehensive estate plan allows you to provide for your family, reduce taxes, avoid family conflicts about inheritance, and leave a lasting legacy. There are nearly countless different legal tools to help you achieve your estate planning goals based on your unique situation. The types of estate planning tools you use will depend mainly on the type of property you own and the complexity of your estate.

Individuals with complex estates will need to work with an experienced estate planning lawyer to build a robust estate plan that adequately addresses inheritance, plans for possible incapacitation, charitable giving, and any other relevant concerns.

Minimize Your Estate Taxes Using a Roth IRA

You have worked hard to earn your wealth, and understandably, you want to maximize the amount of this wealth you can pass on to beneficiaries. Consequently, an essential part of estate planning is minimizing estate taxes. One way to lower your estate tax is to use a Roth IRA to transfer wealth to heirs. Unlike with other retirement accounts, you do not have to take distributions from a Roth IRA in your lifetime. You can leave the funds in your Roth IRA to a surviving spouse or other beneficiaries. As long as you had the Roth IRA for a minimum of five years, the distributions to beneficiaries are tax-free.

Protect Assets from Creditors or Lawsuits with an Irrevocable Trust

Irrevocable trusts come with many unique advantages for complex estates. When you place funds in an irrevocable trust, you transfer ownership to the trust. Because you are no longer the owner of the trust funds, the funds are excluded from your taxable estate. Another key advantage of irrevocable trusts is that the funds contained in the trust are sheltered from judgments and lawsuits. If you or a business owner or work in a profession that leaves you vulnerable to malpractice claims or other legal actions, you may want to use an irrevocable trust to protect your assets. Creditors and court orders cannot remove assets from an irrevocable trust.

Safeguard Your Future by Planning for Incapacitation

Though it can be an unpleasant topic to consider, eventually, everyone passes away, and many people are incapacitated by injury or illness before their death. A comprehensive estate plan not only addresses inheritance concerns, it also addresses medical and financial decision-making during your lifetime. Estate planning tools like a durable power of attorney, revocable living trust, and living will allow you to decide in advance how your personal affairs should be handled if you cannot handle these matters yourself.

Call Us for Help With Your Complex Estate

If you own several assets and/or have a high net worth, proper estate planning is especially important. By utilizing smart estate planning strategies, you can minimize your estate taxes, maximize the funds left to your loved ones, make sure the right people receive your assets, plan for possible incapacitation, and much more. Contact the experienced Naperville estate planning attorneys at the Gierach Law Firm for help. Call 630-228-9413 today for a confidential consultation.

Sources:

Investopedia

U.S. News