FAQ Friday: Levels of Estate Planning
On Friday, March 3rd, Attorney, Steve Berger discusses the levels of Estate Planning for a married couple with adult children.
With economy class travel, there are nonrefundable tickets or if an airline cancels a flight, you might be stranded. Estate planning can also have limited and restricted plans.
Agreements about who makes decisions is important so they can uphold your wishes.
Coach class planning includes basic wills (everything goes to each other and then to the children) and this is what about 60% of clients use. The biggest issue is everything is left to the spouse and if they remarry the ultimately the money could end up being used for those whom weren’t part of the original family.
Business class planning might include trusts and discuss future probate and trusts for the children along with special needs can be addressed. Drawbacks can be a survivor taking all the money and sharing with a new spouse.
First class includes possibly 15% of our clients. It usually starts with a joint trust or a separate trust and moves to separate trust upon first death. This prevents the potential second marriage affecting current assets. Tax planning can also be apart of this. Additional expenses would come up upon the first death and again on the second.
The private jet planning might include established trusts for the children with tax numbers. These clients usually have gifting strategies and come in annually, taking note of changes.
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