Donations are Beneficial to Charities and Heirs

Thursday, July 9th, 2009

If you are looking for a win-win strategy in estate planning, then give to charitable institutions.  There are many benefits of giving.  Here are some opportunities for you to give:

*Charitable Remainder Trusts (CRT) - a tax-exempt, irrevocable trust created when any donor irrevocably transfers assets to the trust.  Then, the trustee would invest the funds to pay a designated income stream for the donor in a specified period of time - this usually lasts for the donor’s lifetime and possibly the donor’s spouse as well.  Finally, after the end of term, the charity would get the rest of the trust assets.

*Charitable Lead Trust (CLT) - this gives income to a charity for several years, and then the rest would pass to the heirs of the donor.  This also allows the donor to get an income tax deduction applied to the charitable gift (the income stream going to charity).  Therefore, a CLT is the complete opposite of CRT.

*Outright Gifts - the simplest strategy to give to charity.  When you do this, you can benefit from a tax deduction.  If you want an additional benefit of removing your assets from your estate, you may give lifetime gifts such as real estate or stock.

*Retirement Benefits - an ideal asset to give to charity.  You can simply give the name of the charity as designated beneficiary with IRA custodian or plan administrator.

Tags: CLT, CRT, Estate Planning, Outright Gifts, Planned Giving, retirement benefits
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An Amicable Senior Divorce

Wednesday, June 10th, 2009

These days, there is a growing divorce rate among seniors as people live longer. And when seniors divorce, they confront different problems compared to the younger ones. Younger couples usually focus on visitation and child support issues while these are some considerations for a senior divorce:

· Life Insurance – is there a policy?

· House – seniors usually have more home value than young couples. Sometimes, they even own more than one home.

· Retirement benefits – do the beneficiary need to be changed when one spouse has been relying on the other one’s retirement benefits?

· Health insurance – typically, one spouse is relying on the health insurance of the other.

Since these issues may be expensive to litigate and complicated to deal with, a mediator can help facilitate an amicable settlement and sort through these issues. They can also work them in a less contentious and cheaper way than bringing it to court. These mediators can meet with the couple and allow a discussion in a non-confrontational manner. The common goal is to address both spouses’ interest and produce an agreed settlement.

Remember that some attorney’s can also function as mediators. They may not necessarily bring the case to court if not needed. Once a mediated agreement has been signed, it only needs to be filed in court and is considered binding.

Tags: attorneys, Divorce, health insurance, house, life insurance, mediation, mediator, retirement benefits, Senior Divorce, seniors
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