ESTATE PLANNING INFO & BASICS©
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Introduction
This article excludes a discussion of the financial and retirement planning aspects of estate planning, as well as any discussion of insurance needs, because NAFEP does not directly become involved in those areas. Many of NAFEP's independent Associate members do provide financial, retirement and insurance planning and services, but only as a part of their own independent practice. What this article focuses on are the proper methods of holding legal title to property during your life, and passing your estate on to your heirs in a manner and timing of your choosing, all with minimum taxes and intervention by the legal system.
Important Definitions:
Estate:
The total property owned by an individual prior to the distribution of that property under the terms of a will, trust or inheritance laws. An individual's estate includes all assets and liabilities.
Property:
Property is described as either real or personal. Real property is real estate, and personal property is everything else. Personal property includes physical assets such as automobiles, equipment, household items, etc. Personal property also includes financial property, such as securities, notes or loans receivable, bank accounts, cash and insurance policies.
Grantor:
A grantor is a party, consisting of one or more individuals and/or organizations, who or which transfers ownership of property to another party. The receiving party is referred to as grantee. Often the grantor and grantee are the seller and buyer of property. Sometimes these two parties are referred to as transferor and transferee. In the context of a trust, the grantor is the party who creates and/or transfers legal title of property to the trust.
Trustee & Successor Trustee:
In the context of a trust, the trustee holds the legal title to property which is transferred to the trust, and the trustee then becomes the chief administrator over that property. The trustee is strictly bound by the terms and provisions written into the trust, and is obligated to deal with and transfer property to beneficiaries or heirs according to those written instructions. A successor trustee is simply someone who replaces an existing trustee, and often they are pre-appointed in a trust so that the successor may immediately step up to the position of trustee when necessary. Trustees may be either humans of legal age or corporations. A trust may have one or more trustees, and may have both a corporation and a human as co-trustees.
WHY DO ESTATE PLANNING?
PROBLEMS
TAXES
ESTATE TRANSFER & HEIR PLANNING
TRUSTS vs. WILLS, WHICH IS BEST FOR YOU?