When you pass away, you want to leave money and assets behind for your family members and loved ones. You don’t want them getting hit by a big estate tax bill. Fortunately, there are ways to protect assets and avoid such an issue. A Woodland Hills estate tax planning attorney from our firm may be able to help you.
Can I Set Up a Trust to Avoid a Big Estate Tax Bill?
A trust is one estate planning tool that can be quite handy if you want to avoid a larger estate tax bill. There are many different types of trusts with different rules, benefits, and potential drawbacks, so it’s important to talk to an estate planning lawyer about what your goal is with a trust. You can use it to simply pass down assets, but there are also other potential benefits to using trusts.
You can use a trust to provide for a loved one with special needs without affecting their eligibility for benefits. We can help you set up a trust that continues to support charitable causes after you have passed away. If you worry that a beneficiary may not be great with money, a trust with limitations and a trustee who you can depend on could be used to ensure that money is not frittered away. Trusts are a versatile tool and they can be a great way to reduce an estate tax bill.
What Other Options Can Help Me Reduce My Estate Tax Bill?
If trusts don’t suit you, there are plenty of other estate planning tools at our disposal. You can try:
Gifting: You and your spouse can each give an individual a gift of $18,000 per year without worrying about taxes. That’s $36,000 per year that you can give away, and you can give that much away to multiple people.
A family limited partnership: This structures your estate like a business, an LLC or a limited partnership. You can then gift “shares” to beneficiaries and reduce the overall size of your estate over time.
Giving to charity: Making donations to charity continues to have tax benefits. You can reduce the value of your estate by supporting your favorite causes, and that can reduce or eliminate your estate tax bill.
Funding an educational account: You can set up a 529 savings account for each grandchild. There are limits on how much you can deposit each year, but your gifts will reduce the size of your estate and give your heirs money to spend on their education.
Consult With Our Attorneys
When you are ready to make an estate plan of your own, contact the Law Offices of Yacoba Ann Feldman. Schedule a consultation with our legal team and learn more about all of your potential options. We will do everything that we can to help you plan for estate taxes.
