Author: Amanda Brown, Director, Trust Services
Planning for the future can be difficult, especially when it is focused on what will happen after you die. If you have avoided planning, there’s no time like the present to consider important legal and financial decisions you’ve been putting off, including your estate plan.
Here are some best practices to help get your financial and estate plan in order:
In addition to the important estate planning tactics above, consider making gifts or loans to family members. If you’d like to make a gift to a family member or to a trust for their benefit, consider using the $16,000 annual gift tax exclusion and the $12.06 million gift/estate tax exclusion to make tax-free gifts of depressed property that are likely to appreciate in value.
You also may want to offer loans to family members with very low interest rates. If your family member invests wisely and has a greater return than the note’s interest rate, they will retain the upside at no gift tax cost.
While it may feel overwhelming to think about death and focus on your estate plan, once you develop a plan, you will be happy you made it a priority. If you need help with your estate plan, FNBO’s trust team is here to help.
About the Author
Amanda is a Director in Trust Services at FNBO Wealth Management and is responsible for the administration of estates, trusts and investment accounts. She focuses on helping individuals and families desiring generational planning and preservation of wealth.
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