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Should You Update Your Estate Plan After Buying Out-of-State Property?
Leaving instructions in your estate planning documents on how a seasonal property will continue to be used and/or owned after your death, can prevent friction amongst family members and ensure your investment can be enjoyed for decades to come.
“Letters of Trusteeship” is a court document giving the nominated trustee of a trust created under a Last Will and Testament (“Will”) the power to act. Such a trust is called a testamentary trust because it is created in a Will.
A common issue that arises during the administration of an estate concerns assets that were transferred close to death. These transfers can be in the form of gifts or the creation of a joint tenancy or a beneficiary designation.
Currently, the federal estate tax exemption is $11.7 million and the New York State estate tax exemption is $5.93 million. If no further action is taken by Congress, in 2025 the federal estate tax exemption will revert to the former $5 million, indexed for inflation.
A family tree affidavit is an affidavit executed by a disinterested person to prove who a decedent’s distributees are. To be considered disinterested, the person must have no financial interest in the decedent’s estate.
In general, when a person dies in New York, that person’s Last Will & Testament must be probated in Surrogate’s Court so that an Executor can be appointed to legally distribute assets. If there is no Will, an administration proceeding will be required and an administrator will be appointed to distribute the decedent’s assets according to New York State intestacy law.
It pays to tie the knot, at least according to the IRS. The unlimited marital deduction is a provision in the U.S. Estate and Gift Tax Law that allows individuals to transfer an unrestricted amount of assets to their spouse at any time, free from tax.
Generation Skipping Transfer Tax (GSTT) is the tax imposed on transfers made to grandchildren, or individuals (other than a spouse) who are at least 37 ½ years younger than the donor of the gift. GSTT sounds complicated, and can be complicated, but the concept is simple.
When a co-owner of real property passes away, what happens next depends on how the co-owners took title to the property. Upon the death of a co-owner, it is necessary to review the last deed of record to make this determination.
Many people choose to invest in a life insurance policy. Some choose to purchase a term life insurance policy wherein the insured pays a premium for a period of years and if he or she passes away during that period of time, the policy will pay out to the designated beneficiaries, while others purchase whole life insurance which works more like an investment product and has a guaranteed payout no matter the insured’s age.
Even if someone passes away with an estate below the federal estate tax exemption amount of $11.7 million dollars, if married, the estate should consider filing an estate tax return to capture the deceased spouse’s unused exemption amount.
