Real estate prices have been falling all over the country.  While no one likes to think that their home is worth less than it used to be, the downturn has created an opportunity to give your home to your eventual heirs while saving a large amount of estate and gift taxes. This can be done with a “Qualified Personal Residence Trust”, or QPRT.  The idea is that you put your home into a trust for a

Picking a retirement plan beneficiary is a key step in estate planning.  Every year we hear about people who lost out on enormous tax savings by picking the wrong beneficiary.  So how do you decide whom to pick? Most married people will choose their spouse.  This is usually a good idea because the spouse can take distributions from the plan if he or she needs the money.  The spouse can also roll the account over into

All of us are affected by the economic recession, but you should know that certain estate planning techniques become must more valuable when asset prices plunge – so this is a good time to take advantage of them. Some of the best estate planning ideas involve giving a partial interest in your assets to your heirs now, while retaining effective control over the assets.  The idea is to get these interests out of your estate now

Many older people are watching their grown children struggling through difficult times, facing unemployment, investment losses, difficulty in keeping up with a mortgage and other issues.  These parents want to help their children financially – but they want to do so in a tax-smart way that’s consistent with their overall estate plan.  Here are some ideas to consider:  Annual gifts to children’s spouses: Suppose your daughter is doing well financially, but your son has lost his

The amount that you can give to someone without having to pay the federal gift tax has been increased to $13,000 a year, effective for 2009. The previous maximum was $12,000 a year. Many people will want to take advantage of this new limit to increase their annual giving as part of their estate plan. The limit is the amount that any one person can give to any other person. So for instance, if a married

Starting in 2009, you can leave $3.5 million to your heirs before the federal estate tax kicks in – up from $2 million previously. And in 2010, the estate tax is slated to be repealed altogether. But contrary to what some people think, that doesn’t mean you don’t need to worry about estate planning!

If you’ve been wondering how a family limited partnership can save your family taxes, here’s a good example.  Bianca Gross was a widow who invested in stocks.  She had two daughters.  She decided to create a family limited partnership, in part so she could involve her daughters in her investment decisions and teach them about investing.  Bianca became the general partner, and the daughters became limited partners.  Bianca had complete management control over the partnership, and

You might think it’s easy to leave a vacation home to your children in your will.  But there are many issues that can arise.  For instance, over time children might squabble over who will pay for major repairs or renovations, especially if some children use the property more than others.  Children might disagree about whether to sell the property.  And there are tax, liability and asset protection issues and opportunities as well. If you haven’t thought

Many people like the idea of pre-paid funeral plans because they allow funeral services to be locked in at today’s prices, and save family members the trouble of selecting caskets and attending to other matters at a time of great sadness and stress.  But if you’re thinking of such a plan, be cautious.  After you’ve paid, there’s always a risk the funeral home will go out of business, or the owner (or a new owner) will

Can you put property into a trust, but keep the power to take it back again as long as you substitute other property of equal value?  Yes in some cases, according to an IRS ruling. This means you could put real estate, artwork, an insurance policy or other property into a trust, and keep the power to take it back for yourself, as long as you’re willing to pay the fair market value of it to