Basic estate planning tools that everyone should have:
- WILL - A will is an important estate planning document for everyone. Even if everything you own will avoid probate through a will substitute, there is always the possibility that you will acquire something and die before it is put in trust or made joint. If your plan is different from the states estate-planning scheme you need a will to ensure that these probate assets do not benefit the wrong heirs.
- DURABLE FINANCIAL POWER OF ATTORNEY - Permits the agent of the incapacitated person to perform all duties they normally would be able to do while healthy. Example pay bills, buy sell real estate, hire/fire employees, sign tax returns, make gifts, etc.
- DURABLE HEALTHCARE POWER OF ATTORNEY - Permits the agent of the incapacitated person to make healthcare decisions for the incapacitated person such as: obtain information on my behalf in accordance with the provisions of the Health Insurance Portability and Privacy Act (HIPPA), sign waivers, releases and the like.
- LIVING WILL (ADVANCE HEALTHCARE DIRECTIVE) - A document in which you convey your wishes regarding your medical care if you are in a permanent vegetative state or terminal condition. A Living Will gives you the ability to name another person to make medical care decisions for you if you are unable to make those decisions.
Consider the following questions:
- Have you written a Will or named a guardian for your children?
- How will your assets pass to your family?
- Do you have current powers of attorney covering both health and financial issues?
- Do you have a durable power of attorney?
- Should you make gifts during your lifetime? Do you want to give anything to charity?
- Have you considered how you will transfer your business ownership and to whom?
- Do you anticipate any significant changes in your total income in the future (special bonus/inheritance)?
- Do you feel your current planning will allow you to achieve your goals?
- How do you want to be remembered?
Estates & Trusts Practice
Angelo & Angelo, LLC advises clients throughout their life as they accumulate assets, experience life changes such as birth or adoption, marriage, planning for retirement and prepare for an orderly disposition of their estate. By a personal approach to client satisfaction we forge close working relationships, learn what matters to them and then design our advice appropriately. We pledge to address our clients concerns in a concise and unambiguous manner.
Our practice encompasses general estate planning, estates and trusts administration, estates and trusts litigation, personal income tax planning, estate tax return preparation, transfer tax planning, charitable giving, business succession planning, adoption concerns and guardianship.
AREAS OF PRACTICE
General Estate Planning
Many of the traditional vehicles of estate planning are encompassed in this category and include:
Estates and Trusts Administration
Our firm will handle handles all phases of estate settlement in Pennsylvania, including:
Estates and Trusts Litigation
Our firm handles many complex litigation matters that require extensive experience, such as:
Personal Income Tax Planning
Angelo & Angelo, LLC advises clients with respect to various employee benefits such as qualified retirement plans, IRA withdrawals, deferred compensation plans and stock options.
Estate Tax Return Preparation
Our firm takes pride in the fact we can fully service our clients with respect to all aspects of tax matters including the preparation of their tax returns as well as tax planning advise. Our attorneys are equipped to prepare individual, partnership and corporate returns so that our clients may have some continuity and one-stop-shopping without having to decipher the Internal Revenue Code and eliminating the need for more costly accounting services.
Transfer Tax Planning
In 2001 President George W. Bush signed in a myriad of tax law changes including a phasing out of the federal estate tax up to the year 2010 where the exclusion becomes unlimited. However, there remains significant uncertainty in the year following 2010. Married individuals should keep in mind that though the marital exclusion will eliminate the federal estate tax to one spouse, the second spouse to pass will be subject to it. If you are a client who is subject to the federal estate tax or may become one, there are many vehicles available to reduce or even eliminate the tax including:
Gifting of assets over the grantors life via irrevocable trusts such as:
Devices that will reduce asset value for estate purposes, including:
Our firm has experience in preparing estate and gift tax returns to correctly report transactions involving any of the above devices.
Charitable Giving
For clients who have charitable aims, we offer a variety of vehicles to take maximum advantage of the tax deductibility of those gifts. We will work to achieve goals from setting up scholarship designations to a clients alma matter to Charitable foundations. Some of the following trusts help achieve these goals:
Business Succession Planning
If you own a business, succession planning may be an option that you want to look into. By planning for the transfer of your closely-held business to family members you will have the opportunity to plan for the following generations with respect areas such as management and tax implications. Some important options to consider are:
Adoption Concerns and Guardianship
Angelo & Angelo, LLC will walk our clients through a lifelong dream of adoption. We will navigate you through the necessary legal filings to bring that new addition to your family with the smoothest possible transition.
Additionally, our firm takes looks into our clients future, much like a chess champion plots his strategy many moves ahead, while planning for your estate. We will make insightful proposals to avoid potential difficulties that could arise in the future with respect to personal concerns of family members. Each family will have different needs with unique situations. Some approaches however will be unforeseen. In these cases we can suggest the following options:
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