Understanding the Finer Points of Estate Planning with an Estate Planning Attorney in Bel Air, MD
Estate planning is something important for people to do if they’re going to leave behind assets for family members or loved ones. There are many facets to estate planning, but an estate planning attorney in Bel Air, MD will explain their clients everything. Also, there are some very specific things that can be done ahead of time when planning a person’s estate to make sure everything goes exactly as it should.
Many people want to leave money behind for family members. In some situations, a person will leave behind money with the intention of it being used to pay for something, like their grandchildren’s college education. In these instances, it’s best to set up a dedicated education fund. With this setup, the people who are in charge of the money will have no other legal option than to spend the money in the way that the person who passed wanted.
It’s also important to think about minimizing tax burdens on family members and loved ones. For example, if items are given away that are taxable, it’s typically best to leave those to charitable organizations. In these instances, the charities won’t have to pay taxes because of their exempt status. Items that aren’t taxable, such as life insurance policies or proceeds from certain retirement funds, can be left to loved ones and family members.
If someone is experiencing a deteriorating health condition and they know they’re going to pass away soon, gifting family members and loved ones beforehand is an excellent way of distributing assets without having their loved ones overly taxed. So long as these gifts don’t exceed an amount or value over $13,000 per year, they are completely legal and tax-free.
Many of these things will be addressed by an estate planning attorney in Bel Air, MD. There is also a number of other things that should be done to properly plan a person’s estate, even if they don’t have huge sums of money that they’re leaving behind. To understand more about proper estate planning, you may want to contact Michael S. Birch, Attorney at Law, to schedule a consultation. You can check out the website, or you can simply click here.
