Estate Planning Services

Estate planning is the preservation and the distribution of your assets, both during your life and upon your death. It is accomplishing your personal and family goals and easing the management of your financial and legal affairs, as well as minimizing taxes if your estate is large enough for taxes to be of concern. When we talk about an estate, we mean all assets of any value that you own, including real property, business interests, investments, insurance proceeds, personal property and even your personal effects. An “estate plan,” generally, refers to the means by which your estate is passed on to your loved ones on your death. Estate planning can be accomplished through a variety of methods, including:

  • Revocable Living Trusts
  • Last Will and Testament / Probate
  • Lifetime Gifting
  • Joint Ownership
  • Beneficiary Designations
  • Life Estates
  • Revocable Living Trusts
  • Last Will and Testament / Probate
  • Lifetime Gifting
  • Joint Ownership
  • Beneficiary Designations
  • Life Estates

Problems often arise when people don’t coordinate all of these methods of passing on their estate. If you have a well-drafted estate plan in place, you will ensure that your estate passes to whom you want, when you want, and is carried out in the manner you’ve chosen. You can rest assured that your family won’t have to endure the public process and costly matter of probate. The government won’t be able to take what you’ve spent a lifetime building. But you need to be aware of the many options that exist in estate planning – and you must choose your estate planning attorney wisely.

Joint Ownership — Winter Haven, FL — The Tessier Law Firm

We want you to feel confident about the choices you make – let us be your guide on the path toward preserving your family’s future.

Problems often arise when people don’t coordinate all of these methods of passing on their estate. If you have a well-drafted estate plan in place, you will ensure that your estate passes to whom you want, when you want, and is carried out in the manner you’ve chosen. You can rest assured that your family won’t have to endure the public process and costly matter of probate. The government won’t be able to take what you’ve spent a lifetime building. But you need to be aware of the many options that exist in estate planning – and you must choose your estate planning attorney wisely.

We want you to feel confident about the choices you make – let us be your guide on the path toward preserving your family’s future.

Joint Ownership — Winter Haven, FL — The Tessier Law Firm

Estate and Gift Tax Figures

Federal

Estate and Gift Tax Applicable Exclusion:

The amount that can be passed free of federal tax. Whatever amount is used during lifetime is no longer available for use to pass assets at death. The Estate and Gift Tax Applicable Exclusion is currently $11.58 million.

Annual Gift Tax Exclusion:

The amount that can be given to each person you want without using any Applicable Exclusion. The Annual Gift Tax Exclusion is currently $15,000.

Generation-skipping Tax Exemption:

This allows for giving to people who are grandchildren or other “skip persons.” It may also be used as a sophisticated way of avoiding Federal estate tax at the death of a child. Each person currently has $11.58 million of Generation-Skipping Tax Exemption.

State

State Estate Tax:

In addition to the Federal Estate Tax, many states have a State Estate or Inheritance Tax. State Estate and Inheritance Tax may apply at a much lower level than the federal tax. It may apply when a person dies when resident in or owning property in any of the many states with such a tax.

Estate Planning Resources

ESTATE PLANNING CHECKUP

  • Do you have a Will?
  • If you have minor children, do you have a current Will which names Guardians?
  • If the total gross value of all your assets is over $100,000 do you have an Estate Plan?
  • If you have a Living Trust, have you transferred your assets into it?
  • In case you become disabled, have you nominated someone to handle your financial affairs?
  • Do you have a current Health Care Power of Attorney that provides the names, addresses and telephone numbers of your designated agents to handle your medical care if you’re disabled?
  • Do you have provisions in your Trust or Will that address the issue of death taxes?
  • If you want to make gifts to charities at your death, are they clearly set forth in your planning documents?
  • Do your planning documents clearly set forth how your personal property will be distributed at your death, including the care of any surviving pets?
  • Since you signed your planning documents, have you changed your mind about any aspect of the plan?
  • Has the value of your assets substantially changed since you signed your planning documents?
  • Have you substantially changed the kind of assets you own since your planning documents were signed?
  • Have you recently been married, divorced or widowed since your estate planning documents were signed?
  • Have you had children since your estate planning documents were signed?
  • Have your children had children?
  • Have any of your children been married, divorced or died since your planning documents were signed?
  • Have you, your spouse or child become physically or mentally incapacitated since your planning documents were signed?
  • Have you bought or sold a house or other piece of property since your planning documents were signed?
  • Are you contemplating selling stock or other valuable assets with a low cost basis?
  • Have you moved between states since your planning documents were signed?
  • If you have a Living Trust, are Medi-Cal triggers in place to ensure that at the appropriate time Medi-Cal planning can be implemented?

Feel free to make an appointment with our firm to review your estate plan.

Estate Planning Definitions

  • Annual Gift Tax Exclusion

    Technique to allow gifts without the imposition of estate or gift taxes and without using lifetime exclusion.

  • Children’s or Grandchildren’s Irrevocable Education Trust

    A Trust used by parents and grandparents for a child’s or grandchild’s education.

  • Charitable Remainder Interest Trust

    A trust whereby donors transfer property to a charitable Trust and retain an income stream from the property transferred. The donor receives a charitable contribution income tax deduction, and avoids a capital gains tax on transferred property.

  • Family Limited Partnership

    An entity used to:


    1. Provide asset protection for partnership property from the creditors of a partner
    2. Provide protection for limited partners from creditors
    3. Enable gifts to children and parents maintaining management control
    4. Reduce transfer tax value of property

  • Federal Estate Tax

    A tax levied by the federal government upon the estate of a deceased person. The federal government gives certain exclusions and deductions and then taxes everything above a set level.

  • Fractional Interest Gift

    Allows a donor to transfer partial interests in real property to donees and obtain fractional interest discounts for estate and gift tax purposes.

  • Funding

    Is the process that entails transferring assets you own as an individual into the name of your Trust.

  • Generation Skipping Tax

    This is a tax levied on assets that are given to individuals who are more than one generation away from the donor. An example would be a grandparent giving an asset to a grandchild either during the grandparent’s life or at death. Effective use of generation-skipping exemption allows the assets to avoid estate tax inclusion in the child’s taxable estate.

  • Guardianship/Conservatorship

    Is a court-supervised proceeding which names an individual or entity to manage the affairs of an incapacitated person. A guardianship may also include the duty to care for the incapacitated person.

  • Health Care Power of Attorney

    Instrument used to allow a person you name to make health care decisions for you should you become incapacitated.

  • Irrevocable Life Insurance Trust

    A Trust used to prevent estate taxes on insurance proceeds received at the death of an insured.

  • Joint Tenancy

    When property is held in joint tenancy with rights of survivorship by two or more people, upon the death of one of the owners, all of his or her interest in the property is transferred immediately to the surviving owners.

  • Living Will

    Sometimes called a physician’s directive, is a document in which you give directions for life sustaining treatment should you become unable to communicate your wishes. Some states have combined this into the advanced health care directive.

  • Pour Over Will

    Is used first to name a guardian for minor children. Second, it protects against intestacy in the event any assets have not been transferred into the Trust at the death of the Trustor/Owner. Its function is to “pour” any assets left out of the Trust into it so they are ultimately distributed according to the terms of the Trust.

  • Private Foundation

    An entity used by higher-wealth families to receive charitable income, gift, or estate tax deduction while allowing the family to retain some control over the assets in the foundation.

  • Probate

    Is the court procedure used to change title to assets from the name of an individual who has passed away into the name of the beneficiaries. It is also where all creditors of a decedent file claims to collect their debts and where interested parties can “contest” the Will. An individual who passes away with a Will or no estate plan will go through this process.

  • Property Power of Attorney

    Instrument used to allow an agent you name to manage your property.

  • Revocable Living Trust

    A device used to avoid probate and provide management of your property, both during life and after death.

  • State Estate or Inheritance Tax

    A state estate tax is a tax levied by a state government upon the estate of a deceased person. It is levied in much the same way as the federal estate tax. A state inheritance tax is a tax levied by a state government that varies depending upon the relationship of the inheritor to the deceased person. Nearly half the states have a separate state estate or inheritance tax which kicks in at a lower level than that of the federal government.

  • Step-up in Basis

    A step-up — or step-down — in basis is an adjustment for income tax purposes to an asset’s fair market value at the date of the death of the owner of the asset. For example, if you bought a share of stock for $100 that increased in value to $500 at the time of your death, your tax basis was $100 but increases to $500 at the time of death.

  • Trustee

    The person or entity in charge of the assets in a Trust. While you are alive, you may act as Trustee. For married couples, either one or both spouses may act as Trustee or co-Trustees. The successor Trustee is an individual or corporation fiduciary whom you designate to be in charge of your Trust in the event of disability or upon death.

  • Will

    A legally enforceable declaration of how a person wishes his or her property to be distributed after death. In a Will, a person can also recommend a guardian for his or her children.

Estate Planning Reports

Estate Planning With IRA — Winter Haven, FL — The Tessier Law Firm

At first glance, the concept of an Individual Retirement Account (IRA) seems simple enough: a structured way to save for your golden years while deferring…....

Probate — Winter Haven, FL — The Tessier Law Firm

The passing of someone close to you is a difficult and emotionally draining time. The last thing you likely want to deal with is the…....

Medicaid Eligibility — Winter Haven, FL — The Tessier Law Firm

Incapacity planning is a broad area of law that covers how you are cared for if you become physically or mentally unable to care for…....

The Trouble Of Joint Tenancy — Winter Haven, FL — The Tessier Law Firm

Although Joint Tenancy offers some short-term conveniences, in the long run it poses a host of problems that can cost you and your loved ones…....

Trust Administration Problems — Winter Haven, FL — The Tessier Law Firm

Trust Administration is the process people often find themselves in unexpectedly, after the death of a spouse or parent who created the trust prior to…....

Will And Probate — Winter Haven, FL — The Tessier Law Firm

Would you like to know the intimate details of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis’ life? You don’t have to read her story in the tabloids or wait…....

Do-It-Yourself Wills And Trusts — Winter Haven, FL — The Tessier Law Firm

Estate planning is an essential part of life and death. In planning for our future and our family’s future, we must take stock of who…....

Calculating The Benefits Of Living Trusts — Winter Haven, FL — The Tessier Law Firm

Chances are you’ve already heard a lot about the attributes of Living Trusts: avoiding probate and legal quagmires, sometimes lowering estate and/or income taxes and…....

Planning It Right The Second Time Around — Winter Haven, FL — The Tessier Law Firm

One thing should be clear by now: we do our families and ourselves a great disservice when we fail to plan for every contingency. That’s…....

15 Reasons To Do Estate Planning — Winter Haven, FL — The Tessier Law Firm

Find out the most common reasons why it is important to do estate planning such as avoiding probate, protecting your assets and designating someone who…....

Is Your Estate Plan Outdated?

Review the questions below to see if it is time for an Estate Plan Check-Up

  1. Has it been more than 3 years since you reviewed your current estate plan?
  2. If you have minor children, does your estate plan name Guardians for them?
  3. Since creating your estate plan, are your children now adults?
  4. If you have a Trust, are there any assets that you have not transferred into your Trust?
  5. If you become disabled, is your Power of Attorney document for financial decisions older than 5 years?
  6. If you become disabled, is your Power of Attorney document for health care decisions older than 5 years?
  7. Are there any gifts you would like to make to charities at your death that have not been clearly set forth in your planning documents?
  8. Is there any personal property that you would like distributed that have not been clearly set forth in your planning documents, including the care of any surviving pets?
  9. Since you signed your planning documents, have you changed your mind about any aspect of the plan?
  10. Has the value of your assets changed since you signed your planning documents?
  11. Have you added or changed the kind of assets you own since your planning documents were signed?
  12. Have you recently been married, divorced or widowed since your estate planning documents were signed?
  13. Have you had children since your estate planning documents were signed?
  14. Have your children had children?
  15. Have any of your children been married, divorced or died since your planning documents were signed?
  16. Have you, your spouse or child become physically or mentally incapacitated since your planning documents were signed?
  17. Have you bought or sold a house or other piece of property since your planning documents were signed?
  18. Are you contemplating selling stock or other valuable assets with a low cost basis?
  19. Have you moved between states since your planning documents were signed?
  20. If you have a Living Trust, are Medi-Cal triggers in place to ensure that at the appropriate time Medi-Cal planning can be implemented?

If you have answered ‘YES’ to any of these questions, it is a good idea to schedule a review appointment.

Top 10 Estate Plan and Legacy Planning Techniques

  1. Revocable Living Trust: A device used to avoid probate and provide management of your property, both during life and after death.
  2. Property Power of Attorney: Instrument used to allow an agent you name to manage your property.
  3. Health Care Power of Attorney: Instrument used to allow a person you name to make health care decisions for you should you become incapacitated.
  4. Annual Gift Tax Exclusion: Technique to allow gifts without the imposition of estate or gift taxes and without using lifetime exclusion.
  5. Irrevocable Life Insurance Trust: A trust used to prevent estate taxes on insurance proceeds received at the death of an insured.
  6. Family Limited Partnership: An entity used to:
  7. Provide asset protection for partnership property from the creditors of a partner
  8. Provide protection for limited partners from creditors
  9. Enable gifts to children and parents maintaining management control
  10. Reduce transfer tax value of property.
  11. Children’s or Grandchildren’s Irrevocable Education Trust: A trust used by parents and grandparents for a child’s or grandchild’s education.
  12. Charitable Remainder Interest Trust: A trust whereby donors transfer property to a charitable trust and retain an income stream from the property transferred. The donor receives a charitable contribution income tax deduction, and avoids a capital gains tax on transferred property.
  13. Fractional Interest Gift: Allows a donor to transfer partial interests in real property to donees and obtain fractional interest discounts for estate and gift tax purposes.
  14. Private Foundation: An entity used by higher-wealth families to receive charitable income, gift, or estate tax deduction while allowing the family to retain some control over the assets in the foundation.

Estate Planning FAQs

For current Estate and Gift tax figures, click here.

  • Why do I need an estate plan?

    Most of us spend a considerable amount of time and energy in our lives accumulating wealth. With this, there comes a time to preserve wealth both for enjoyment and future generations. A solid, effective estate plan ensures that your hard-earned wealth will remain intact as it passes to your beneficiaries, instead of being siphoned off to government processes and bureaucrats.

  • If I don’t create an estate plan, won’t the government provide one for me?

    YES. But your family may not like it. The government’s estate plan is called “Intestate Probate” and guarantees government interference in the disposition of your estate. Documents must be filed and approval must be received from a court to pay your bills, pay your spouse an allowance, and account for your property–and it all takes place in the public’s view. If you fail to plan your estate, you lose the opportunity to protect your family from an impersonal, complex, governmental process that can become a nightmare. Then there is the matter of the state and federal government’s death taxes. There is much you can do in planning your estate that will reduce and even eliminate death taxes, but you don’t suppose the government’s estate plan is designed to save your estate from taxes, do you? While some estate planners favor Wills and others prefer a Living Trust as the estate plan of choice, all estate planners agree that dying without an estate plan should be avoided at all costs.

  • What’s the difference between having a Will and a Living Trust?

    A Will is a legal document that describes how your assets should be distributed in the event of death. The actual distribution, however, is controlled by a legal process called probate, which is Latin for “prove the Will.” Upon your death, the Will becomes a public document available for inspection by all comers. And, once your Will enters the probate process, it’s no longer controlled by your family, but by the court and probate attorneys. Probate can be cumbersome, time-consuming, expensive, and emotionally traumatic during a family’s time of grief and vulnerability. Con artists and others with less-than-pure financial motives have been known to use their knowledge about the contents of a Will to prey on survivors. A Living Trust avoids probate because your property is owned by the Trust, so technically there’s nothing for the probate courts to administer. Whomever you name as your “successor trustee” gains control of your assets and distributes them exactly according to your instructions. There is one other crucial difference: A Will doesn’t take effect until your death, and is therefore no help to you during lifetime planning, an increasingly important consideration since Americans are now living longer. A Living Trust can help you preserve and increase your estate while you’re alive, and offers protection should you become mentally disabled.

  • The possibility of a disabling injury or illness scares me. What would happen if I were mentally disabled and had no estate plan or just a Will?

    Unfortunately, you would be subject to “living probate,” also known as a conservatorship or guardianship proceeding. If you become mentally disabled before you die, the probate court will appoint someone to take control of your assets and personal affairs. These “court-appointed agents” must file a strict accounting of your finances with the court. The process is often expensive, time-consuming and humiliating.

  • If I set up a Living Trust, can I be my own trustee?

    YES. In fact, people who create most Living Trusts act as their own trustees. If you are married, you and your spouse can act as co-trustees. And you will have absolute and complete control over all of the assets in your Trust. In the event of a mentally disabling condition, your hand-picked successor trustee, not the court’s appointee, assumes control over your affairs.

  • Will a Living Trust avoid income taxes?

    NO. The purpose of creating a Living Trust is to avoid living probate, death probate, and reduce or even eliminate state and federal estate taxes. It’s not a vehicle for reducing income taxes. In fact, if you’re the trustee of your Living Trust, you will file your income tax returns exactly as you filed them before the trust existed. There are no new returns to file and no new liabilities are created.

  • Can I transfer real estate into a Living Trust?

    YES. In fact, all real estate should be transferred into your Living Trust. Otherwise, upon your death, depending on how you hold the title, there will be a death probate in every state in which you hold real property. When your real property is owned by your Living Trust, there is no probate anywhere.

  • Is the Living Trust some kind of loophole the government will eventually close down?

    NO. The Living Trust has been authorized by the law for centuries. The government really has no interest in making you or your family suffer a probate that will only further clog up the legal system. A Living Trust avoids probate so that your estate is settled exactly according to your wishes.

  • Isn’t a Living Trust only for the rich?

    NO. A Living Trust can help anyone protect his or her family from unnecessary probate fees, attorney’s fees, court costs and state and federal estate taxes. In certain circumstances even individuals with small estates can derive meaningful benefits.

  • Can any attorney create a Living Trust?

    YES, but you would be better off choosing an attorney whose practice is focused on estate planning. Members of the American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys receive continuing legal education on the latest changes in laws affecting estate planning, allowing them to stay on top of the latest laws and techniques to help you meet your needs.

  • What is the federal estate tax?

    The federal estate tax is a tax levied by the federal government upon the estate of a deceased person. The federal government gives certain exclusions and deductions and then taxes everything above a set level.

  • What is a state estate or inheritance tax?

    A state estate tax is a tax levied by a state government upon the estate of a deceased person. It is levied in much the same way as the federal estate tax. A state inheritance tax is a tax levied by a state government that varies depending upon the relationship of the inheritor to the deceased person. Many states have a separate state estate or inheritance tax which kicks in at a lower level than that of the federal government.

  • What is portability?

    Portability is where the surviving spouse can use the amount of federal estate tax exclusion that their deceased spouse left unused at their death. Portability has been part of the law since 2011, though it was temporary until 2013.

  • Must an estate tax return be filed if portability will be utilized?

    Yes. Portability must be elected on a timely-filed federal estate tax return. This is the case even though a federal estate tax return would not otherwise be required, such as if the estate of the deceased spouse is below the threshold for federal estate taxation.

Families Without Estate Planning FAQs

  • Who will decide where I live?

    A local judge would have to appoint a Guardian who would make that decision. Of course, the judge may not choose the same person you would have chosen.

  • Who will decide Medicaid treatment issues?

    Depending on the state, if your family members agree, they can make that decision. However, if family members disagree, you could be back with the local judge getting a Guardian appointed.

  • If I have no chance of recovery, will I be kept on life support?

    Unless you have planned properly, you probably will be kept on life support. In most states, you will be kept on life support unless there is clear evidence you expressed wishes to the contrary; usually this requires something in writing.

  • How will my bills get paid?

    Your family or friends must go to your local court and have someone appointed your Conservator. Again, this judge probably does not know you and may not appoint the same person you would choose. In the appointment process, people must testify in open court that you do not have the ability to care for yourself. It can be draining financially and emotionally. Your Conservator would have to report to the court for as long as you are disabled.

  • What happens if my investments need to be changed quickly due to market conditions or to reflect new circumstances and risk tolerance?

    A court would have to appoint a Conservator. Nobody but the Conservator would be able to act for you.

  • What happens if my son needs his tuition paid while I’m disabled?

    Again, if you haven’t planned, nobody can act for you until the court appoints a Guardian and/or Conservator for you. If bills, such as your son’s tuition, need to be paid in the interim, a friend or family member would have to use their savings or borrow to pay the bill.

  • How will my income tax return get filed?

    If you are single, only your Conservator would have that authority.

For more information, or to schedule a consultation, call us at 863-220-7927.