Estate Planning

Why do estate planning? Because without it, you could be throwing your lifetime of hard-earned money into the bottomless pockets of good old Uncle Sam and probate lawyers.

Some estate planning strategies

There are several ways that you can plan for your assets to pass to the people you want, in the manner you want, at the least federal estate-tax cost. Here are just two ways:

• A credit shelter trust can help both you and your spouse take advantage of the unified credit and transfer more to your heirs free of federal estate tax.
• Another very valuable estate planning technique is a life insurance trust, which helps your heirs handle estate tax. By establishing a trust for the benefit of your beneficiaries, the death benefit can be paid to the trust, without being included in your taxable estate.

How we work

• We can look over your current wills, trusts, life insurance coverage and ownership forms.
• We can help you manage the amount of estate tax and probate fees that your heirs will face.
• We can work with you to set up family partnerships and corporations so you can transfer a limited portion of your estate through gifting of ownership during your lifetime.

For more information ...

How do you know if you are making the best estate planning decisions? Will you burden your heirs with needless estate taxes?

If you're like most people, you could use an objective viewpoint from an estate planning expert for help with important questions like these.

For answers to your estate planning questions, contact Ken Lassen at 602.431.4150 or at kenyon.lassen@fcssw.com.

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