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More About This Title JK Lasser's New Rules for Estate and Tax Planning, Fourth Edition
English
Stewart H. Welch III, AEP, CFP®, is a nationally recognized financial advisor who is widely quoted in the press including Money magazine, the Wall Street Journal, Worth, and many other publications. He has served as Chair of the Disciplinary and Ethics Commission and as a member of the Board of Directors of the Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards, Inc. Mr. Welch's company, The Welch Group, is a fee-only money management and financial advisory firm in Birmingham, Alabama.
Harold I. Apolinsky, Esq., EPLS, is a board-certified estate planning attorney with the law firm Sirote & Permutt, PC in Birmingham, Alabama. He previously taught estate planning at the Cumberland School of Law and the University of Alabama Law School.
Craig M. Stephens, Esq., LLM, is co-chair of Sirote & Permutt, PC's Estates, Wills, and Trusts practice group in Birmingham, Alabama. His practice focuses on representing individuals in the estate planning process, with a focus on tax-minimization strategies. He is an adjunct professor of estate planning and estate and gift taxation at the Cumberland School of Law.
English
Introduction xiii
1. Tax Relief, Unemployment Insurance Reauthorization, and Job Creation Act of 2010 1
Marginal Ordinary Income Tax Rates 2
Capital Gains Tax Rates 3
Educational Provisions 3
Business and Corporate Tax Relief 8
Estate, Gift, and Generation-Skipping Transfers 8
2. Estate Planning: You Need It—Here’s Why 13
What Is Estate Planning? 13
The Benefits of Estate Planning 15
The Nightmares of Poor Planning 16
The Myths of Estate Planning 17
Guidelines for Successful Estate Planning 18
3. The Estate Tax System: How Much Are You Really Worth? 21
Determining Your Estate Net Worth 21
Understanding the Estate Tax System 21
Your Estate Tax Picture 27
Your Future Estate 30
Overview of Estate Planning Strategies 30
4. Investment Strategies for Maximizing Estate Growth 32
Growth Strategy with a Safety Net® 33
Prioritizing Your Investment Dollars 37
Retirement Planning: Choosing the Best Investment Environments 38
Some Final Thoughts on Investing 46
5. Retire with Dignity: How Much Is Enough? 47
Your Retirement Requirements 47
6. You Don’t Have a Will? Big Trouble! 60
Property Transfers at Death 61
Transfers via Probate 61
Direct Transfers by Title 64
Other Methods of Property Ownership 68
Choosing the Best Methods of Ownership 69
Setting Estate Planning Goals 70
7. Where There’s a Will, There’s Your Way! 72
What Is a Will? 72
Types of Wills 72
Advantages and Disadvantages of Wills 74
Intelligent Decisions Concerning Your Will’s Basic Provisions 76
Executing Your Will 86
Where to Store Your Will 86
Other Important Documents 87
Working with Your Attorney 90
When to Review Your Estate Plan 95
8. Using Trusts in Your Estate Plan 98
The Credit Shelter Trust Will 99
Disclaimers 103
Marital Trusts 104
Spendthrift Trust 108
Standby Trust 109
Other Trusts 109
9. Understanding the Living Trust 110
Advantages of Living Trusts 110
Disadvantages of Living Trusts 112
How a Living Trust Operates 113
Transferring Property into Your Living Trust 115
Types of Property Likely to Be Transferred 118
Living Trust Myths 120
Transacting Business with Your Trust 122
10. Using Insurance in Your Estate Plan 123
Life Insurance 123
Using Life Insurance to Replace Income 125
How Much Life Insurance Do You Need? 126
What Type of Life Insurance Is Best for You? 129
Insurance on a Homemaker 129
Insurance on Adult Children 129
How to Get the Best Deal on Term Life Insurance 130
Insurance Warnings! 130
Using Life Insurance for Estate Liquidity 131
How Much Is Enough? 132
What Type of Life Insurance Is Best for Estate Liquidity? 132
The Irrevocable Life Insurance Trust 134
Getting Your Life Insurance into Your Trust 135
Using Life Insurance to Leverage Your Estate 137
About Your Cash Values 139
Long-Term Care Insurance 141
11. Smart Strategies for Gifting Assets to Family Members 144
The Annual Gift Tax Exclusion 144
Unintended Gifts 145
Filing a Gift Tax Return 146
The Lifetime Applicable Exclusion Amount 147
Outright Gifts 147
When the Donee Is a Minor 149
Other Tax-Free Gifts 152
Family Gifts Utilizing Trusts 152
Grantor Retained Annuity Trust 153
Grantor Retained Unitrust 154
Qualified Personal Residence Trust 154
Taking Advantage of Generation Skipping Transfers 159
Sales to Family Members 161
Loans to Family Members 164
The Legacy Trust 164
12. Strategic Planning with Charities 173
Outright Gifts to Charities 174
Testamentary Gifts to Charities 176
Gifts Using Charitable Trusts 176
Using Your Charitable Trust for Retirement Planning 179
The Private Foundation 182
13. Family Limited Partnerships 186
General Structure of the Family Limited Partnership 186
Family Limited Partnership Rules 191
14. Succession Planning for the Family Business or Farm 197
Special Estate Tax Benefits for Farmers and Closely Held Business Owners 199
Valuing Your Business or Farm 200
Succession or Sale? 201
Succession Planning: Keeping the Family Business in the Family 201
Maximizing Your Business’s Value through a Sale 202
Structuring Your Buy-Sell Agreement 203
Types of Buy-Sell Agreements 204
Funding the Buy-Sell Agreement 205
One Final Strategy—The Employee Stock Ownership Plan 206
15. Asset Protection Strategies 208
The Concept of Fraudulent Transfers 209
A Word about Jointly Held Property 212
Retirement Plans 212
Life Insurance 214
Using Trusts to Protect Assets 214
Using Limited Liability Entities to Protect Assets 216
Use of Multiple Limited Liability Entities 218
Foreign Asset Protection Trusts 219
Domestic Asset Protection Trusts 221
16. Personal Business Planning Issues 223
Choosing the Right Entity for Your Business 223
Closing Thoughts 233
Importance of a Business Plan 235
Epilogue—Dealing with Parents and Their Money 237
Appendix A—Professional Advisors 239
Appendix B—Estate Planning Terms 243
Appendix C—IRS Life Expectancy Table 248
Index 251
