California Probate - Law Offices of Janet Brewer Blog

Should I Create My Own Estate Plan?

“The ongoing coronavirus pandemic has pushed many people to make long-delayed decisions about estate planning. Many people will try the do-it-yourself route via various websites or books. Internet DIY websites make it easy to download forms, but there are mistakes people make when they try do-it-yourself estate planning.”

US News & World Report’s recent article entitled “Do-It-Yourself Estate Planning Mistakes” provides some issues that do-it-yourself estate planners might encounter and why it is best to consult an experienced estate planning attorney.

What are the Right Questions to Ask? Completing a simple and straightforward form—like a beneficiary designation for your IRA— is one thing, but what about tax consequences, probate law, new legislation and court procedures? Are you ready to take these on? The trick is that you may not know what you don’t know. That’s why it’s money well-spent to employ the services of an experienced estate planning attorney.

Is My Situation Complex? Likewise, you may have property and assets all over the country (or world) that require expert advice. You must be certain that your planning, tax planning and financial planning all work together because they’re all interrelated. If you only work on one of these areas at a time, you may create complications in another area and unintentionally increase your expenses or taxes. It can also create headaches and expense for your heirs. If you have a child with special needs, a blended family, or want to control how and where a beneficiary spends your money, a cookie cutter approach won’t do. Instead, you should see an experienced estate planning attorney.

What are the Probate Laws in My State? Estate planning laws and taxes are different in each state.  Your state will have different rules and legal procedures for creating and administering an estate. There are many different state laws that govern inheritance taxes. There are 17 states plus DC that tax your estate, inheritance or both, and the tax laws can affect your situation when planning. Eleven states plus DC have only an inheritance tax. One state taxes both inheritances and estates.

If you mess up your estate planning documents, if could cause significant problems for your family. You best bet is to work with an experienced estate planning attorney in your state. Contact our office today to schedule your consultation.

Reference: US News & World Report (Dec. 18, 2020) “Do-It-Yourself Estate Planning Mistakes”

Is a Tax Change a Good Time to Check My Will?

A last will and testament can make certain that your goals for legacy and asset disposition are satisfied and carried out. However, what most people fail to grasp is that a will needs regular review—especially if the document was written or involved the creation of a trust prior to passage of tax reform, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA), in 2017, says Financial Advisor’s recent article entitled “Tax Changes Make This A Good Time To Revise A Will.”

Wills can pass on assets, but taxes have come to greatly impact how much money is passed on. People usually understand the primary components, including the tax implications, of their wills.

These include:

• The unlimited marital deduction
• Applying current rules to make non-taxable gifts of up to $15,000 per person
• The current estate tax exemption of $11.58 million
• Health care directives
• Naming trustees and executors; and
• Creating long-term trusts with non-taxable asset transfers.

Wills and trusts were created prior to the passage of the TCJA may not consider that reform changed the amount which can be exempted from estate taxes.

The law more than doubled the amount that can be exempted from estate taxes. The potential tax changes could cause many more Americans to have a taxable estate, and it’s important to have a full understanding of your assets and carefully decide who you want to receive them. You must also decide if you want them passed outright or through a trust.

Privacy is a good reason why some people often prefer trusts. They also like the quick processing and avoiding probate.

Estate plans should be reviewed every few years, and wills should be reviewed more frequently because life changes are the biggest reason for trouble in revising wills.

Divorce, separation or marriage; the birth or adoption of children, as well as a child reaching adulthood; and changes to finances, location, and health all can play important roles.

Reference: Financial Advisor (Nov. 9, 2020) “Tax Changes Make This A Good Time To Revise A Will”

How Do I Keep Money in the Family?

“If you're single and die in 2020, you can have up to $11.58 million in assets before your heirs have to worry about paying a penny in estate taxes.”

That seems like an awfully large amount of money. You might think only the super wealthy need to worry about estate planning, but you'd be wrong to think planning is only necessary for the 1%.

US News and World Report’s recent article entitled “5 Estate Planning Tips to Keep Your Money in the Family” reminds us that estate taxes may be only part of it. In many cases, there are income tax ramifications.

Your heirs may have to pay federal income taxes on retirement accounts. Some states also have their own estate taxes. You also want to make certain that your assets are transferred to the right people. Speaking with an experienced estate planning attorney is the best way to sort through complex issues surrounding estate planning. Here are some things you should cover:

Create a Will. This is a basic first step. However, 68% of Americans don’t take it. Many of those who don't have a will (about a third) say it's because they don't have enough assets to make it worthwhile. This is not true. Without a will, your estate is governed by state law and will be divided in probate court. Ask an experienced estate planning attorney to help you draft a will.  You should also review it on a regular basis because laws and family situations can change.

Review Your Beneficiaries. There are specific types of accounts, like retirement funds and life insurance in which the owners designate the beneficiaries, rather than this asset passing via the will. The named beneficiaries will also supersede any directions for the accounts in your will. Like your will, review your account beneficiaries after any major life change.

Consider a Trust. Ask an experienced estate planning attorney about a trust for possible tax benefits and the ability to control when a beneficiary gets their money (after they graduate college or only for a first home, for example). If money is put in an irrevocable trust, the assets no longer belong to you. Instead, they belong to the trust. That money can’t be subject to estate taxes. In addition, a trust isn't subject to probate, which keeps it private.

Convert to Roth’s. If you have a traditional 401(k) or IRA account, it might unintentionally create a hefty tax bill for your heirs. When your children inherit an IRA, they inherit the income tax liability that goes with it. Regular income tax must be paid on distributions from all traditional retirement accounts. In the past, non-spousal heirs, such as children could “stretch” those distributions over their lifetime to reduce the total amount of taxes due. However, now the account must be completely liquidated within 10 years after the death of the owner. If the account balance is substantial, it could necessitate major distributions that may be taxed at a higher rate. To avoid leaving beneficiaries with a large tax bill, you can gradually convert traditional accounts to Roth accounts that have tax-free distributions. The amount converted will be taxable on your income taxes, so the objective is to limit each year's conversion, so it doesn't move you into a higher tax bracket.

Make Gifts While You’re Alive. A great way to make certain that your money stays in the family, is to just give it to your heirs while you're alive. The IRS allows individuals to give up to $15,000 per person per year in gifts. If you're concerned about your estate being taxable, these gifts can decrease its value, and the money is tax-free for recipients.

Charitable Donations. You can also reduce your estate value, by making charitable donations. Ask an experienced estate planning attorney about setting up a donor-advised fund, instead of making a one-time gift. This would give you an immediate tax deduction for money deposited in the fund and then let you make charitable grants over time. You could designate a child or grandchild as a successor in managing the fund.

Complicated strategies and a constantly changing tax code can make estate planning feel intimidating. However, ignoring it can be a costly mistake for your heirs. Talk to an estate planning attorney.

If you have any questions about your current estate plan, please call or email us today.

Reference: US News and World Report (Sep. 30, 2020) “5 Estate Planning Tips to Keep Your Money in the Family”

Can I Bequeath My Home to My Children without Taxes?

“You would like to pass a house tax-free to your heirs. After all, you want to give them a gift, not the burden of taxes. How do you do that?”

As part of your estate planning, you can pass your house tax-free to an heir. savingadvice.com’s recent article entitled “Use These Tips to Pass Your House to Your Heirs Tax-Free” reminds us that the most important thing is to look at the total value of your entire estate (not just your home). If the value is more than $11.58 million (the unified federal estate gift and estate tax exemption amount for 2020), then your estate will be subject to estate taxes. If it’s under that amount, there’s no worries, and you can pass a house tax-free through a will. However, you may also have state estate taxes on the inheritance.

Ask an experienced estate planning attorney about the potential capital gains taxes your heirs may have to pay when they sell the property. If you owe any money to Medicaid upon your death, the state can place a lien on your property, which can affect your heirs. Let’s look at some options to discuss with your estate planning attorney:

Irrevocable Trust. If you have an estate that’s more than the $11.58 million amount, you might want to look at putting the house into an irrevocable trust, instead of just including it in your will. Ask your attorney about a qualified personal residence trust. When you die, the house will go to the heir(s) that you’ve designated with the trust. However, if you sell the house, the money goes into the trust and can’t be cashed out if the situation changes. It’s something to consider if you have a high-value estate and want to pass a house tax-free to your children or other loved ones.

As a Gift. You can gift a house to your children, and there will be no taxes on that if the value of your home is less than the $11.58 million. However, you must file a gift tax form when you do your annual taxes. As long as the value is below that amount, it should just be a matter of filing the form and not paying any fees.

Look at the total value of your estate and your home. File a gift tax form with the IRS in the year that you gift the home and offset the total amount of the gift by first using your annual gift-tax exclusion of $15,000. This is per donee and per donor, so if you and your spouse jointly own the property and you gift it to multiple children, you can up the exclusion amount.

You shouldn’t apply for Medicaid within five years of gifting your home to your child, because there may be a transfer penalty if you gift assets just before applying for Medicaid benefits.

Can You Sell the House and Gift the Money? You can sell the home at current market value, then gift that money to your child. You can do this in a will or trust or give it to them directly. You could also sell the home to your child at a very low price. They’d get the house and can sell it themselves at a higher value when the time is right for them to do so. However, they may have to pay higher taxes when they do.

Selling your Home to Your Child for $1? OK, you’re technically selling the house, so it’s not a gift. However, the remainder of the value of the house is considered a gift, so the gift tax rules still apply. If your child sells the house, they must report the entire difference as a gain, which means capital gains taxes.

If you want to sell your house to your child, you should consider selling it to them with a small down payment as a seller-financed sale. You’ll carry the note for the balance, and your adult child will make affordable payments. You can even offset what they pay you, by gifting them up to $15,000 per year (which is low enough not to trigger the gift tax). Since you’ve sold the home, it’s no longer a part of your estate, so you don’t have to worry about taxes on your end.

If you have any questions about your current estate plan and real estate issues like this, please call or email us today.

Reference: savingadvice.com (July 29, 2020) “Use These Tips to Pass Your House to Your Heirs Tax-Free”

State Laws Have an Impact on Your Estate

“I am a resident of Florida. I would like to leave my condo in Florida to my friend’s daughter, who I consider my stepdaughter, after my death. She is a resident of New Jersey and they would use the condo as a vacation home. Will she be considered my daughter for tax purposes, and which state’s tax laws will count?”

Nj.com’s recent article entitled “Will N.J. or Florida’s tax laws affect this inheritance?” notes that first, the fact that the individual from Florida isn’t legally married is important.

However, if she’s a Florida resident, Florida rules will matter in this scenario about the vacation condo.

Florida doesn’t have an inheritance tax, and it doesn’t matter where the beneficiary lives. For example, the state of New Jersey won’t tax a Florida inheritance.

Although New Jersey does have an inheritance tax, the state can’t tax inheritances for New Jersey residents, if the assets come from an out-of-state estate.

If she did live in New Jersey, there is no inheritance tax on “Class A” beneficiaries, which include spouses, children, grandchildren, and stepchildren.

However, the issue in this case is the fact that her “daughter” isn’t legally her daughter. Her friend’s daughter would be treated by the tax rules as a friend.

You can call it what you want. However, legally, if she’s not married to her friend, she doesn’t have a legal relationship with her daughter.

As a result, the courts and taxing authorities will treat both persons as non-family.

The smart thing to do with this type of issue is to talk with an experienced estate planning attorney who is well-versed in both states’ laws to determine whether there are any protections available. You can read more about how our process works, how we can make sure we are a good fit for your needs, and how to get started today right here.

Reference: nj.com (July 23, 2020) “Will N.J. or Florida’s tax laws affect this inheritance?”

What Happens If I Don’t Fund My Trust?

“If you have updated your estate plan during the Covid crisis and even found a way to sign your documents while maintaining social distance, do not overlook the last step of trust funding.”

Trust funding is a crucial step in estate planning that many people forget to do.

However, if it’s done properly, funding will avoid probate, provide for you in the event of your incapacity and save on estate taxes.

Forbes’s recent article entitled “Don’t Overlook Your Trust Funding”looks at some of the benefits of trusts.

Avoiding probate and problems with your estate. If you’ve created a revocable trust, you have control over the trust and can modify it during your lifetime. You are also able to fund it, while you are alive. You can fund the trust now or on your death. If you don’t transfer assets to the trust during your lifetime, then your last will must be probated, and an executor of your estate should be appointed. The executor will then have the authority to transfer the assets to your trust. This may take time and will involve court. You can avoid this by transferring assets to your trust now, saving your family time and aggravation after your death.

Protecting you and your family in the event that you become incapacitated. Funding the trust now will let the successor trustee manage the assets for you and your family, if your become incapacitated. If a successor trustee doesn’t have access to the assets to manage on your behalf, a conservator may need to be appointed by the court to oversee your assets, which can be expensive and time consuming.

Taking advantage of estate tax savings. If you’re married, you may have created a trust that contains terms for estate tax savings. This will often delay estate taxes until the death of the second spouse, by providing income to the surviving spouse and access to principal during his or her lifetime while the ultimate beneficiaries are your children. Depending where you live, the trust can also reduce state estate taxes. You must fund your trust to make certain that these estate tax provisions work properly.

Remember that any asset transfer will need to be consistent with your estate plan. Your beneficiary designations on life insurance policies should be examined to determine if the beneficiary can be updated to the trust.

You may also want to move tangible items to the trust, as well as any closely held business interests, such as stock in a family business or an interest in a limited liability company (LLC). Ask an experienced estate planning attorney about the assets to transfer to your trust.

Fund your trust now to maximize your updated estate planning documents.

Reference: Forbes (July 13, 2020) “Don’t Overlook Your Trust Funding”

When Exactly Do I Need to Update My Will?

“It is also important to realize that it isn’t merely “why” you are updating your will, but “when” you are updating that can make all the difference. Acting too late (or too early) may mean your changes are no longer appropriate or even immediately invalidated.”

Many people say that they’ve been meaning to update their last will and testament for years but never got around to doing it.

Kiplinger’s article entitled “12 Different Times When You Should Update Your Will” gives us a dozen times you should think about changing your last will:

1. You’re expecting your first child. The birth or adoption of a first child is typically when many people draft their first last will. Designate a guardian for your child and who will be the trustee for any trust created for that child by the last will.

2. You may divorce. Update your last will before you file for divorce, because once you file for divorce, you may not be permitted to modify your last will until the divorce is finalized. Doing this before you file for divorce ensures that your spouse won’t get all of your money, if you die before the divorce is final.

3. You just divorced. After your divorce, your ex no longer has any rights to your estate (unless it’s part of the terms of the divorce). However, even if you don’t change your last will, most states have laws that invalidate any distributive provisions to your ex-spouse in that old last will. Nonetheless, update your last will as soon as you can, so your new beneficiaries are clearly identified. 

4. Your child gets married. Your current last will may speak to issues that applied when your child was a minor, so it may not address your child’s possible divorce. You may be able to ease the lack of a prenuptial agreement, by creating a trust in your last will and including post-nuptial requirements before you child can receive any estate assets.

5. A beneficiary has issues. Last wills frequently leave money directly to a beneficiary. However, if that person has an addiction or credit issues, update your last will to include a trust that allows a trustee to only distribute funds under specific circumstances.

6. Your executor or a beneficiary die. If your estate plan named individuals to manage your estate or receive any remaining funds, but they’re no longer alive, you should update your last will.

7. Your child turns 18. Your current last will may designate your spouse or a parent as your executor, but years later, these people may be gone. Consider naming a younger family member to handle your estate affairs.

8. A new tax or probate law is enacted. Congress may pass a bill that wrecks your estate plan. Review your plan with an experienced estate planning attorney every few years to see if there have been any new laws relevant to your estate planning.

9. You come into a chunk of change. If you finally get a big lottery win or inherit money from a relative, update your last will so you can address the right tax planning. You also may want to change when and the amount of money you leave for certain individuals or charities.

10. You can’t find your original last will. If you can’t locate your last will, be sure that you replace the last will with a new, original one that explicitly states it invalidated all prior last wills.

11. You purchase property in another country or move overseas. Many countries have treaties with the U.S. that permit reciprocity of last wills. However, transferring property in one country may be delayed, if the last will must be probated in the other country first. Ask your estate planning attorney about having a different last will for each country in which you own property.

12. Your feelings change for a family member. If there’s animosity between people named in your last will, you may want to disinherit someone. You might ask your estate planning attorney about a No Contest Clause that will disinherit the aggressive family member, if he or she attempts to question your intentions in the last will.

If you have any questions about your current will or any other estate planning documents, please call or email us today.

Reference: Kiplinger (May 26, 2020) “12 Different Times When You Should Update Your Will”

Can I Add Real Estate Investments in My Will?

“All real estate investors need to consider what to do with all of their real estate assets when estate planning. After all, the last thing you want is to have your will end up in probate court, where it could be years before your estate settles. With that in mind, here are some options on how to include real estate investments in your will.”

Motley Fool’s recent article entitled “How to Include Real Estate Investments in Your Will” details some options that might make sense for you and your intended beneficiaries.

A living trust. A revocable living trust allows you to transfer any deeds into the trust's name. While you're still living, you’d be the trustee and be able to change the trust in whatever way you wanted. Trusts are a little more costly and time consuming to set up than wills, so you'll need to hire an experienced estate planning attorney to help. Once it's done, the trust will let your trustee transfer any trust assets quickly and easily, while avoiding the probate process.

A beneficiary deed. This is also known as a “transfer-on-death deed.” It’s a process that involves getting a second deed to each property that you own. The beneficiary deed won't impact your ownership of the property while you're alive, but it will let you to make a specific beneficiary designation for each property in your portfolio. After your death, the individual executing your estate plan will be able to transfer ownership of each asset to its designated beneficiary. However, not all states allow for this method of transferring ownership. Talk to an experienced estate planning attorney about the laws in your state.

Co-ownership. You can also pass along real estate assets without probate, if you co-own the property with your designated beneficiary. You’d change the title for the property to list your beneficiary as a joint tenant with right of survivorship. The property will then automatically by law pass directly to your beneficiary when you die. Note that any intended beneficiaries will have an ownership interest in the property from the day you put them on the deed. This means that you’ll have to consult with them, if you want to sell the property.

Wills and estate plans can feel like a ghoulish topic that requires considerable effort. However, it is worth doing the work now to avoid having your estate go through the probate process once you die. The probate process can be expensive and lengthy. It’s even more so, when real estate is involved.

You can read more about how our process works, how we can make sure we are a good fit for your needs, and how to get started today right here.

Reference: Motley Fool (June 22, 2020) “How to Include Real Estate Investments in Your Will”

How Can I Use Estate Planning for My Small Business?

“Small businesses are often caught up in growth cycles, profits and ensuring that products arrive to consumers on time. The life of a small business owner is a hectic one with many owners failing to follow basic estate planning and business law practices.”

All business owners would like to live long enough to see their business become successful, but there are no guarantees.

Legal Scoops’ recent article entitled “3 Ways Estate Planning is Used in Small Business” says that estate planning can work to keep your dream alive and help keep your business thriving after your death. Let’s look at some ways that estate planning helps small business owners.

1. Protection from Unfamiliar Owners with Buy-Sell Agreements. Small businesses are frequently partnerships between family members or friends. However, one of the owners will die before the other, and if this occurs, the business may be in jeopardy if a buy-sell agreement isn’t in place. Buy-sell agreements can make certain that family members of the deceased don’t gain control of the business. It also automatically allows other owners to buy the owner’s share in the company.

2. Implementation of a Succession Plan. A succession plan can identify and develop new leaders and key people to fill business objectives. Succession plans are implemented long before an owner’s death, so their wishes can be upheld. A succession plan can also decrease the chance of family arguments that come after a person’s death.

3. Elimination of Unnecessary Taxes. A business that’s operational and successful will have assets and significant tax burdens for heirs. If a majority of your wealth is tied into a business, you must take action to help remove these unnecessary tax burdens from your business. Business owners can do one of the following:

• Gift family members shares in the business, while they’re still alive
• Redeem stocks at a lower tax rate than cash; or
• Estate taxes can pay estate taxes in installments.

When a business is illiquid, heirs may not be able to pay the 35% – 50% estate tax on the business.

To help you with your business succession planning, contact an experienced estate planning attorney to make certain that your family is financially sound after your death and that your legacy continues on with your family business. Contact our office today to schedule your consultation.

Reference: Legal Scoops (July 14, 2020) “3 Ways Estate Planning is Used in Small Business”

What Is a Step Up in Basis and How Does It Affect Estate Planning?

When people pass on property to family members and other heirs, the concept of a step up in basis may affect the value of the property. While this concept is a little complicated, understanding it may cause you to make changes to your estate plan.

What Is a Step Up in Basis?

Basis refers to the value of an item. When you purchase real estate or another valuable asset, you acquire it at cost basis (the cost you paid for the asset). The basis may change if you transfer this property to another person, either during your lifetime or through your estate. Basis matters when you or your heir calculates taxes on the property.

When you transfer property to another person during your lifetime, the property receives a carryover basis. The original cost basis at which the purchaser bought the asset transfers over to the recipient. When the recipient eventually sells the property, he or she will have to pay capital gains taxes on the difference between the property’s value when the purchaser bought it and when the recipient sold it. Since the purchaser may have bought it many years ago and the value may have increased substantially since then, capital gains taxes could be quite high.

If you instead transfer property to an heir through your estate, the cost basis receives a “step up”. The recipient receives the property with a basis of its fair market value at the time of your death. There is no carryover of the cost basis. As a result, the recipient will not have to pay capital gains tax on any increase in the property’s value from the time the purchaser bought it until his or her death. The only capital gains tax assessed will be for the time between the purchaser’s death and when the recipient sells it.

Why Step Up in Basis Matters for Estate Planning

As you can see, lifetime gifts might result in substantially more capital gains taxes for recipients than gifts through an estate plan. However, there are other good reasons to make lifetime gifts, such as decreasing the value of your taxable estate, taking advantage of yearly estate tax exclusions, and the like.

Evaluating whether to give property to your heirs now or later may depend on the property’s value compared to when you bought it, as well as any predicted changes in value over the rest of your lifetime. It can be tricky to figure out which method of giving is most beneficial for both you and your heirs.

Some estate planning structures, such as certain trusts, can take advantage of steps up in basis and other tax issues. Maximizing your use of these structures is complicated, usually requiring the help of an experienced estate planning attorney. If you want to know more or have questions, contact an attorney in your area.

Planning your estate? Look to Janet Brewer, Esq. for thorough and thoughtful estate planning advice. Janet’s more than 20 years of legal experience will give you confidence and peace of mind. To schedule a “Get Acquainted” meeting, visit Janet's website or call her office at (650) 469-8206.