No Will Hunting – Robin Williams Used a Living Trust

Robin Williams made millions during his career and took steps to protect his wealth so it could be passed down to his three children. Did he just have a simple will based plan? No. Instead, reports indicate that Mr. Williams likely had a plan centered around a revocable living trust. Why would Williams, and other individuals, opt not to have a just a will based plan? First, the probate process can be very complicated and time consuming because it requires the estate be administered through the court system. Think about your experiences that involve the courts or the government in any way. Was it efficient? In our experience, we find it is more complicated and time consuming to have government involvement than having the estate administered privately by people that you hand pick. Revocable Living Trusts combined with properly titled assets can avoid the probate process and...

08 March

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Why the 645 Election for Trusts has Become Important under ATRA 2012

Posted by KarenLewis

in Bobby's Blog

Trusts are an attractive estate planning option because they provide an asset management vehicle during your lifetime and can provide more flexibility in terms of who receives your assets, and how they receive those assets. Another benefit is something called a "Section 645 election." Congress created an opportunity for trustees of a funded revocable trust to utilize certain tax advantages under section 645. When the executor (if there is one), or trustee, of your estate make a Section 645 election, the trust is treated, for income tax purposes, as part of the decedent's estate for all tax years of the estate ending after the decedent's date of death and before the "applicable date." So let’s say, for example, X is a beneficiary of a trust for which a Section 645 election has been made. The trust and the decedent’s estate have a taxable year of December 1, 2012 through...