If you were to ask 10 different couples what their estate planning goals are, you'll probably get 10 different answers. However, after a deeper survey, you'll find that most married couples share the same basic estate planning objectives. Knowing these goals helps both the couple and their estate planner determine what might be the best way to structure their estate plan. Below are eight of the most common estate planning objectives that influence the estate plan of a married couple. The primary goal of estate planning for married couples is to ensure that their loved ones are taken care of after they pass away.
This means making sure that their assets are distributed in a way that is both fair and efficient. Many couples also want to make sure that their assets are protected from creditors and other potential liabilities. This can be done through the use of trusts, which can help shield assets from creditors and other potential liabilities. Another key estate planning goal for married couples is to minimize taxes. By minimizing the amount their assets are reduced to pay taxes, married couples, in turn, maximize the amount of assets that go to their loved ones.
This goal helps achieve the primary goal of ensuring that your loved ones receive sustenance after the couple's death. Many couples also prefer estate plans that maintain their privacy when given the option. However, this tends not to be a dominant problem in most couples. However, recently there has been a significant increase in the number of elderly people being targeted by fraudulent schemes and near-fraudulent requests. As a result, to the extent that an estate plan can protect the privacy of a married couple, especially as they age, this can help protect the surviving spouse from being targeted by such plans. Another important goal for many married couples is to ensure that their children are taken care of if something were to happen to them.
This means making sure that there is someone who is designated as a guardian for any minor children in case both parents pass away. However, if you do not do proper estate planning, the probate court will determine who is raising your children and will make this decision without the benefit of your knowledge and opinions. It seems that many people spend more time planning a vacation, choosing a car to buy or even selecting a place for dinner than planning estate and deciding who will inherit their assets after their death. As a result, many couples overlook this important aspect of estate planning. During your lifetime, you accumulate assets, both real and personal, tangible and intangible.
As you begin the estate planning process, it is extremely useful to think about what you would like to happen to those assets, both during the future stages of your life and after death. More than that, it helps to think about what kind of legacy you would like to leave, both inside and outside your family. This aspect of estate planning is done for the benefit of those you will leave behind, rather than primarily for your own benefit. Another key goal for many married couples is to freeze the amount of capital gain upon death. By freezing this amount, it allows them to estimate their potential tax liability upon death and better plan the payment of income taxes. Finally, your client should have peace of mind knowing that almost all estate planning is flexible and can be updated at a later time if their goals, situation or laws change in the future. And of course, if you have had more than one spouse or have children from more than one family, an estate plan is urgent.
Although many couples, when they think of estate planning, primarily think about death, dealing with disability is also vitally important for virtually every married couple. It is essential for estate planning to transfer assets to heirs with a view to creating as little tax burden as possible for them. Therefore, well-crafted estate plans will almost always involve at least a minimum level of complexity. As the previous publications demonstrate, estate planners are still struggling with how to structure estate plans for married couples in order to achieve the fiscal and non-tax goals of such couples. This is because the main component of estate planning is the designation of heirs for your assets, whether it is a summer house or a stock portfolio. In most cases, wealth transfer taxes can be significantly reduced or even eliminated with estate planning. After the inventory of the estate has been taken, the value of the assets has been calculated, and the taxes and debt have been paid, the executor shall request the court's authorization to distribute the remainder of the estate to the beneficiaries.
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