These Mistakes Can Damage Your Marco Island Estate
Estate planning is much more complicated than just making a will. Misconceptions about implementing estate planning often leads to mistakes that could damage your Marco Island estate. In some cases, these mistakes may not only damage your financial stability but also wreck family relationships. Here are the top four mistakes our estate planning attorneys often find when restructuring estate plans:
Neglecting to Update a Will
Modifications to your business or family structures such as deaths, births, acquisitions or divorce means updating wills to remove or insert material relevant to your estate. We recommend having an estate lawyer go over your will with you once a year or when significant changes impact your life.
Planning for the Possibility of Disability
Suffering an unexpected disability that impairs your mental state or reduces your ability to raise minor children can happen to anyone at anytime. When you can’t make rational decisions about your healthcare, finances and family, do you have someone you can trust to make those decisions?
Making Gifts to Help Reduce Estate Tax Amounts
The IRS allows you to gift your spouse as much as $14,000 annually that can be excluded from estate taxes. Alternately, gifts to businesses, groups or individuals are subject to $28,000 savings on estate taxes. Taking advantage of this IRS rule leaves you with more estate funds to distribute among whomever you choose.
Life Insurance Policies
If you don’t transfer a life insurance policy to a trust, that policy is going to be significantly taxed by the IRS when you pass away. Setting up a life insurance trust with the help of a Marco Island estate planning attorney will help you avoid paying excessive estate taxes put on life insurance policy proceeds.
Don’t let common mistakes damage your Marco Island estate plan. Contact The Mattar Firm today to schedule a free consultation with an attorney who knows how to optimize your estate planning portfolio so you and your family enjoy as many benefits as possible.