Estate Planning Services
For many investors, providing heirs with the legacy of their wealth
is a top priority. At Rene S. Randel, MBA, CPA, CFP®,
we help individual investors develop estate plans that support their vision for wealth
distribution. Through a combination of gifting and trust strategies, you can pass much
more to your heirs' estates tax-free. With the estate tax rate of 45%, the tax savings
are huge, often in the millions of dollars.
To learn more about our estate planning
services, please call us at 805.389.3330 or click here to schedule a consultation.
One of the most powerful tools in estate planning is the Irrevocable Life
Insurance Trust (ILIT). Properly structured, insurance held inside of an
ILIT provides tax-free growth over the owners’ lifetime. And, unlike life
insurance held outside of an ILIT, the proceeds are estate tax free.
Life insurance proceeds are free from income taxes when they are
paid to one's survivors. However, the death benefits on policies
are included in one's taxable estate. This is often overlooked when
people estimate the size of their estate, since life insurance is
not always counted as an asset at face value.
The idea of an irrevocable life insurance trust is to remove the
policy proceeds from one's taxable estate. An irrevocable life
insurance trust avoids estate taxes because it is a separate legal
entity in which the individual retains no interest. In order to
obtain this benefit, however, one must forfeit all control and
ownership rights to the life insurance policies held in such a
trust, which is why the trust is "irrevocable."
To find out more about whether or not a life insurance trust might be
appropriate for your situation, call us at 805.389.3330 or click here to schedule a consultation.
With the top federal and state tax rates at a combined 45% and
estate taxes also at 45%, it is absolutely essential to develop a
comprehensive estate plan. In consultation with your attorney, we can
recommend and implement a plan to minimize estate taxes. For the wealthy
individual, the use of life insurance trusts can achieve phenomenal results.
This is because once inside the trust, your investments grow both income and estate tax free.
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