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Our Estate Planning Practices include Retirement Planning · Estate Planning · Trust & Probate · Tax Planning · Asset Protection · Charitable Giving (978)810-7773
Estate Planning
Estate planning offers a strategic approach to managing your estate throughout your life and beyond. A comprehensive estate plan is designed to sidestep the costly and lengthy probate process, safeguard assets from creditors (whether to the grantor or beneficiaries), provide necessary insurance coverage, and incorporate effective strategies for managing estate taxes.
Estate Planning Practices near Beverly MA
Failing to plan effectively can lead to substantial consequences. While online tools and generic templates offer convenience, they need more personalized analysis to meet individual needs comprehensively. Our office provides a wide range of estate planning services, including long-term care provisions, end-of-life arrangements, estate administration, and more. These are intricacies that only a customized estate plan can address, ensuring you feel understood and cared for. Additionally, we offer complimentary consultations every five years or after any major life event to ensure your plan remains aligned with your needs.
Ultimately, there is no substitute for an estate plan drafted specific to your needs, including:
– Qualified Terminable Interest Property Trusts (QTIP)
– Qualified Personal Residence Trusts (QPRT)
– Grantor Retained Income Trusts
– Grantor Retained Annuity Trusts
– Family Limited Partnerships
– Crumney Trusts
– Irrevocable Life Insurance Trusts (ILIT’S)
We build relationships and create solutions that stand the test of time
At Law Offices of Donald J. Fournier & Associates, we don’t just provide legal services.
Retirement Planning
Retirement benefits are an important aspect of many estate and financial planning activities. This includes the complicated tax and minimum required distribution rules that apply. Congress enacted the IRA rules so that taxpayers could save for their retirement – not their beneficiaries’. The majority of retirement accounts also represent savings that have grown tax-deferred. This means that when funds are withdrawn, they are subject to ordinary income tax rates. Deferring these taxes and ensuring that account balances not spent in your lifetime are managed for your beneficiaries throughout their lives, is an integral aspect of a well-designed estate and financial plan. Moreover, retirement benefits are Medicaid countable. This means that without effective planning, these funds would need to be exhausted before Medicaid will pay for a nursing home. Preserving the value of these assets and transferring it to future generations is a key element of an integrated estate and financial plan.
Tax Planning
Massachusetts estates valued at over $1 million are subject to a graduated income tax, which will apply to the entire estate – not just the amount that exceeds the threshold. So as example, after exemptions, if your estate exceeds the $1 million threshold by one dollar, your entire estate now has upwards of a $36,000 tax liability. In many cases, the equity in your home alone may trigger this tax. An effective tax planning strategy will reallocate or shift assets to keep the estate under the tax threshold or otherwise avoid it in its entirety.
College Funding
529 plans are flexible, tax-advantaged accounts designed specifically for education savings. The Massachusetts 529 plan offers federal tax benefits and in-state tax deductions as you save for a child’s education. The funds may be used for a wide range of college expenses at accredited schools nationwide, or tuition expenses for K-12th grade, certain apprenticeship costs, and student loan repayments. 529 funds will also be treated as assets of the parent’s and therefore, assessed at 5.6% or less of the expected family contribution (EFC) by schools during the application process.
Charitable Giving
Honoring a loved one or supporting causes important to you can have numerous benefits in terms of your estate. Assets given to a charity upon the owner’s death will be sheltered from the estate tax to the extent that they qualify for the estate tax charitable deduction under I.R.C. § 2055. Moreover, income taxes will not be imposed on distributions made to a nonprofit organization or to a charitable remainder trust due to the tax-exempt status of those entities. Whether you elect to donate during your lifetime, through your estate plan, or through donor-advised charitable programs, the donations can serve to maximize your income tax situation while supporting causes that are meaningful to you.