Pass More of Your Inheritance on with LA Probate Law
Sooner or later all of us are going to leave all of our possessions behind. Naturally, it is probably your hopes that the people you love most will be able to enjoy those things that you worked hard to gain over the years. It is even quite possible that you may have already promised some of them that they will get certain items after you are gone. Good intentions and best of plans can easily be defeated if you do not make deliberate preparations to ensure that your assets will end up where you intended. Scott Schomer at LA Probate Law can help you to ensure that they are put into the hands of your loved ones. Without appropriate legal help, you can be sure that the state will only grab a larger portion of your estate in the form of taxes, leaving your beneficiaries with much less.
Many Estate Planning Tools Are Available
There are many tools that the government has permitted to be used to reduce your inheritance taxes and to ensure that they end up where you intended. LA Probate Law is experienced in working with these tools, enabling you to have a much greater control over your assets – now and after you die. Depending on the nature of the assets and your own goals for them, they may need to be handled in different ways in order to gain the most benefit from estate planning tools. This takes time, but there are ways to reduce taxes and ensure the safe passage of your assets to your beneficiaries and even to future generations. Setting an appointment with Scott Schomer at the office will enable you to get started and provide an early assessment of your needs for estate planning. Once that is completed, then a definite plan of action can be suggested for your approval – and action can then be taken to help you meet your objectives for your estate.
Get Your Estate Planning Tools Set Up Correctly
Depending on how much you have in the way of assets will determine the need for using estate planning tools of various types to protect them. The more you have, the more you need it. Long term illnesses can eat up your assets quickly, and creditors may have access to your assets and property if they are not protected. Part of their protection, however, is based on your setting up accounts, trusts, etc., in such a way that it is beyond their reach – and an attorney at LA Probate Law can ensure that they are set up correctly. An improperly established trust, for instance, will not help you at all, because once it has been determined that it is improper, the assets under that instrument will revert back to the estate – where they become subject to the high estate taxes you are trying to avoid. Because these laws change frequently, it is essential that you use a lawyer that is constantly in touch with these tools and the laws that govern them to ensure every instrument is set up correctly.
Control How Your Assets Are Used with Estate Planning
If you have situations where you do not want some of your assets to go to a particular individual, then an estate planner at LA Probate Law can help you around some of the intricacies of probate. There may also be situations where you do not believe that an individual who would naturally receive part of the inheritance might misuse it, and it could make their life worse – such as might be the case with someone who is on drugs or is an alcoholic. Estate planning can help you set up trusts to keep the money intact and overseen by a trustee, but still be distributed on a limited basis to maintain property; or generation-skipping trusts, which passes the assets on to your grandchildren, but restricts usage (and estate taxes) to your children. Knowing the right tool, or feature of a tool, to use to protect your assets to custom-fit it to your needs is the task of a professional estate planner.
Keep Your Assets Out of Probate with Estate Planning
Not all estates have to pass through probate, but if it does, then it could easily turn into an expensive process that is also very time-consuming. In California, estates under $100,000 are generally not required to go through it, but some circumstances may make it necessary. The distribution of assets to the beneficiaries will also be much faster if they do not pass through probate. Privacy can also be maintained by staying out of probate, otherwise the proceedings, assets, and beneficiaries become public information. During the probate process separate money may be needed to pay off property taxes during each of those years and the estate taxes – possibly for up to three years, as well as providing money for the regular bills and maintenance of the spouse or other family members who are normally dependent on the income of the deceased. Since probate can go on for a couple of years or more, this is another aspect of estate planning that LA Probate Law can help you prepare for. Another benefit of seeking legal guidance from an estate planner is that they may be able to find a number of tools or methods you can use now to reduce your annual taxes, allowing you to save considerably more money each year. This will enable you to pass on an even larger inheritance to your beneficiaries.
Pass More of Your Inheritance on with LA Probate Law
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