Provided by the Law Offices of RICHARD
MAYBERRY
MAYBERRY LAW FIRM
2010 Corporate Ridge
McLean, VA 22102
(703)714-1554
Committed to providing the highest quality estate planning legal
services for individuals, families and businesses |
If you are single, you are in
good company. According to the March 1998 Current Population Survey,
nearly half of all adult Americans are single. Being single can mean
considerable personal and economic freedom. Nevertheless, just like your
married counterparts, proper Life & Estate Planning is necessary to keep
you in control.
Incapacity & The Law
Every adult
American is responsible for making their own personal, health care and
financial decisions. In fact, you may take many basic decisions for
granted. For example, you decide where to live, what medical care is
appropriate and how to manage your finances. But what if an illness or
injury leaves you unable to make even these basic decisions? The Law will
require that the decisions be made for you…either by someone you know
and trust or by someone appointed by a Judge who likely does not even know
you.
Proper Life & Estate Planning is required in advance of
your incapacity, if you want to appoint your own decision-maker.
Otherwise, by default you may find yourself before a Judge in a costly
legal process that makes your private personal, health care and financial
circumstances a matter of public record. Given the option, most singles
would prefer to avoid this expense and invasion of privacy.
Minor Children
Do you have minor children (i.e., under age 18 in most
states)? If so, you probably invest considerable time and money to provide
them with a moral, safe and secure home environment. What if you died
before they reached adulthood? Who would rear them to adulthood? Who would
provide a moral, safe, and secure home environment? Unless you want a
Judge to make the selection for you, proper Life & Estate Planning is
required.
Who will manage the inheritance you leave for your minor
children until they reach adulthood? Again, that decision will be made by
a Judge in the absence of proper Life & Estate Planning by you.
Oftentimes, the Court will appoint the surviving biological parent not
only to rear the children to adulthood, but also to manage their
inheritance.
Even worse, if the surviving biological parent then survives
your children, they ultimately may receive the inheritance!
Your Valuables
Is family
harmony important to you? Whether it is "grandma’s yellow pie
pan," antique furniture or that Civil War sword, such items should be
identified in your Life & Estate Plan along with the designated
recipients of your own selection. Otherwise, your valuables could end up
in the hands of the wrong loved one or sold to a perfect stranger in your
Estate Sale. Either way, relationships between and among your loved ones
could be bruised and battered unnecessarily.
Death, Taxes &
Trusts
Benjamin
Franklin noted that there are only two certainties in life: Death &
Taxes. While there is little we can do to avoid the former, proper Life
& Estate Planning can minimize the latter. One of the best kept
secrets for reducing Federal Estate Taxes is really a lifetime gifting
strategy using the Annual Gift Exclusion (AGE).
Under the AGE, each taxpayer may give $10,000 each year to as
many people as they wish. This wealth transfer does not trigger gift taxes
to the donor or to the donee. Additionally, any future increase in the
value of the gifted asset is not included in the donor’s estate for
determining Federal Estate Taxes later on. For this reason, gifts of
assets likely to appreciate in value (e.g. stock that is rapidly going up
in value) are popular. [Note: Appropriate legal counsel should be sought
before making AGE gifts because of important capital gains
considerations.]
Are your likely beneficiaries young, inexperienced or
irresponsible? If so, various Trusts can be created to protect your AGE
gifts from their potential divorces, lawsuits, bankruptcies and good,
old-fashioned squandering. Through carefully drafted Trusts you can
control how and when the gifted assets are made available to your
beneficiaries. As famous jurist Oliver Wendell Holmes put it: "Put
not your trust in money, but put your money in trust." |
