It’s not for everyone, but certain people can save a lot of taxes by making large gifts to family members or others before the end of 2010, and paying a gift tax on the transfer. In general, you can give up to $13,000 to as many people as you like each year without having to pay gift tax. Also, you can give up to $1 million above that limit over the course of your lifetime, and

There are many reasons you might want to leave more assets to one child than to another in your will. One child might have a greater need, or have been more loyal over the years, or have gone out of his or her way to be a caretaker.

A lot of people are converting their regular IRA or old 401(k) plan into a Roth IRA in 2010. That’s because Congress lifted a number of restrictions on these conversions this year. It also gave people who convert in 2010 a special one-time benefit: Rather than reporting the resulting income on their 2010 tax return, they can choose to report nothing for 2010, and then report half the income on their 2011 return and half on

Many older people would like to make significant gifts to their grandchildren, in order to help them and in order to reduce the size of their own estate for tax purposes. But they also worry that the grandchildren won’t be able to handle large sums of money. The good news is that you can give each of your grandchildren up to $13,000 a year without incurring any gift tax. If you’re married, your spouse can also

A Florida couple created a trust to benefit their grandchildren. The trust stated that it was to benefit only grandchildren who were related by blood. One of the couple’s sons got divorced in 1971. A girl, Catherine, had been born during the marriage. The son acknowledged the girl as his child and paid child support for her. In 1999, however, when Catherine was 32 years old, a DNA test proved that she wasn’t really the son’s

When two or more people own real estate, the relationship between the owners is known as a “tenancy.” There are a number of different kinds of tenancy. Understanding the differences is important, because different kinds of tenancy can mean different rules for whether an interest in the property can be inherited outside of probate and whether creditors can claim the property. Tenancy comes in three main forms: tenancy in common, joint tenancy, and tenancy by the

Not only are people living longer these days, but there’s a growing trend of widows and widowers remarrying in their 60s, 70s and 80s. A remarriage late in life can bring happiness, but it can also create complexities for estate planning. For most elderly people who remarry, the chief issue is that they want to look out for their adult children and make sure those children have an inheritance. Lack of estate planning can result in

The federal estate tax expired at the end of 2009, and believe it or not, the lack of an estate tax is creating a serious problem for many people who have not revised their wills in a while. The federal estate tax applied in 2009 to estates of more than $3.5 million. It is slated to come back in 2011, and apply to estates of more than $1 million. Most people expected that Congress would “fix”

When a Texas millionaire died, he left all his money to a trust.  He ordered the trustee to support his second wife in the standard of living she had enjoyed while he was alive, if her own income and resources weren’t sufficient to do so.  Once that was done, the trustee could use the trust to benefit the children of his first marriage.

Some people are worried that after they die, family members may be unhappy about certain provisions in their will and may try to challenge the will in court. This is particularly true if one child is getting less in the will than others, for instance. Here are some ways to head off a will contest: Talk to your heirs now about what you’re doing and why. Many will contests are triggered because a relative is surprised