As part of our continuing effort towards thought leadership, McManus & Associates recently presented The Wall Street Journal with our impressions on the newest estate planning paradigm. The firm’s ideas helped shape a comprehensive, informative cover story in the Weekend Investor by well-versed Reporter Laura Saunders. The article, titled “The New Rules of Estate Planning,” also highlighted the Grevatt Family, one of our clients, for whom we employed a smart strategy in today’s environment.
Estate planning nightmares don’t just exist in dreams. Writing for DailyFinance, Reporter Michele Lerner relays several real-life horror stories that arose—and certainly have been replicated in similar forms far and wide—due to families neglecting to have detailed conversations about inheritance plans. “According to the 2014 Intra-Family Generational Finance Study by Fidelity Investments,” Lerner writes, “64 percent of parents older than 55 who have at least $100,000 in investable assets and their adult children over 30 aren’t on the same page about when the right time is to have conversations about estate planning.”
Top 9 Considerations in Light of Administration’s Proposals to Change Estate and Gift Tax to Generate Revenue
Award-winning law firm McManus & Associates flags potential modifications to the law that should factor into one’s estate planning
NEW YORK, NY – President Obama and the Treasury Department recently released the Fiscal Year 2015 Budget Proposal and the associated “Green Book,” which details the Administration’s revenue proposals. With future policies that will be pushed now clear, McManus & Associates, a top-rated tax and estate planning law firm based in the Tri-State Area, today released the “Top 9 Considerations in Light of President Obama’s Proposed 2015 Budget.”
The American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012 (ATRA) delivered transfer tax certainty, large indexed transfer tax exemptions, and portability. Taking into account new norms, McManus & Associates, an estate planning law firm based in the Tri-State Area, today released a new installment in its free Educational Focus Series, “Top 10 Signposts to Guide Planning for Estates under $10MM.” During a conference call for clients, the firm’s Founding Principal and top AV-rated Attorney John O. McManus shed light on estate planning strategies that should be considered today following recent changes to federal and state laws.
Trusts & Estates/WealthManagement.com this week published an article from McManus & Associates Founding Principal and top AV-rated Attorney John O. McManus. The piece, “Top 10 Considerations for Estate Planning with Life Insurance,” was also be blasted out in the publication’s e-newsletter on October 30th.
The contribution shares the following 10 questions for advisors to discuss with clients:
To find out what advice John had for each of the above, check out his full article here.
Whether as a wealth replacement strategy combined with philanthropic giving or as a safeguard to cover expenses and taxes, use of life insurance in your estate plan can provide significant protection to your loved ones. This useful planning tool has several unique benefits, which should be considered in every wealth transfer plan. John O. McManus, founding principal of McManus & Associates, recently held a conference call with clients to review the most important considerations when planning with Life Insurance.
LISTEN HERE: “Top 10 Considerations for Estate Planning with Life Insurance”
Find answers to the questions below and more by listening to the free recording.
1. If a life insurance policy is owned by a trust, what is the ongoing maintenance required for the strategy to succeed most effectively?
2. What are Cristofani beneficiaries and how can they make a life insurance trust even more gift tax efficient?
3. How can insurance be utilized to facilitate a business succession plan?
4. Term, whole life, 2nd to die, from a layman’s standpoint, what are the unique benefits of each?
5. How can ownership and beneficiary designations for a life insurance policy affect the taxable assets of the estate?
6. How do non-citizens avoid qualified domestic trust requirements with a life insurance trust?
7. What are some strategies to avoid the 3-year look back period when existing insurance is transferred to a trust?
8. Annual exemption gifts can fund a life insurance trust gift tax free, but what about generation skipping tax issues? How is the trust affected?
9. When the terms of an irrevocable trust do not reflect the wishes of the parties, what options are available?
10. How to use life insurance as a wealth replacement strategy with charitable giving.
McManus & Associates would be happy to discuss how these strategies apply to you and yours. Give us a call at (908) 898-0100.
The Trust Advisor, dubbed as “America’s Leading Wealth Management e-Newsletter,” today published an article based on McManus & Associates’ latest client conference call in our educational series. The piece, titled “The Trusts Are Signed, Now It’s Time To Keep Them Running,” opens by pointing out that the fiscal cliff pushed billions of dollars into irrevocable trusts.
Author of the story Scott Martin observes that “most of the assets have already flown, leaving many advisors who rode the trust wave to ask what’s next.” Martin goes on to cite advice from top-AV rated Attorney and Founding Principal of McManus & Associates John O. McManus:
This is actually a big opportunity for those who can switch gears from helping people create trusts to the heavy lifting of keeping those vehicles properly, says top attorney John O. McManus.
He still preaches the importance of those families who have not yet transferred their estates into an irrevocable trust – as he notes, the assets should continue to appreciate – but those who already have are often at a loss.
“I always explain to my clients that the creation of a trust shouldn’t be viewed as a box to check,” he says. “Rather than setting up the trust and moving on, new planning ideas can be continually implemented that utilize the trust as a leading instrument to accomplish one’s financial mission.”
Check out the full write-up to see McManus’ checklist for managing an existing irrevocable trust.
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