Asset Inventory
Before starting a journey, it's essential to know where you are. It's the same with an estate plan. Your FHFG financial advisor offers some excellent tools to help you evaluate your current situation. Our "What is My Net Worth" calculator can help you get started.
Your Will
It's natural to think that life will continue as it always has. Though we may not know the timing, we can confidently predict some changes that will occur. Life will end one day for all of us. After we are gone, loved ones will remain. The attorney on your estate planning team will prepare a written legal will that ensures your assets are distributed as you wish to family members, charitable institutions, etc.
A Power of Attorney
Who will make decisions for you if you cannot make them yourself? A more important question is whether that person will make the decisions you would if you could. The attorney on your estate planning team can create powers of attorney (POAs) for your finances, business, and health to ensure that someone you trust will make the best decisions for you if you cannot.
Tax Efficiency
While only large estates are subject to federal taxes, states have different tax laws. If you have a large estate, the tax burden could significantly decrease what remains for your loved ones. We can work with your tax advisor (or help you find one), to determine a tax efficiency strategy aimed at preserving your assets, then position these assets accordingly.
Trusts
A trust is a legal vehicle that preserves your assets now or over time for future needs. Parents of young children or dependents with special needs can create a trust to set aside funds for their living expenses and education, protect the assets from misuse, and stipulate when the funds can be accessed. Another type of trust can set aside funds for charitable gifts or endowments.
Some individuals who prefer the details of their estate to remain private, may choose to use a living trust in place of a will. Disposing of assets via a living trust avoids the public probate process required by a will. To do so, the individual transfers all their assets into a living trust. The living trust must be signed before a notary.
Your estate planning team can discuss with you the different types of trusts and how estate planning and trust services can help you meet your goals. When a plan for trust creation is established, your estate planning attorney can prepare the necessary documents and your FHFG advisor can position your assets to best carry out the terms of the trust.
Insurance
Life insurance can go a long way toward providing for your family when you can no longer do so. Long-term care insurance can enable us to afford the care we may need as we age. Life and long-term care insurance are important elements of an estate plan that can give you confidence that you and your family will be provided for, no matter what happens.