Estate Planning Tip: Utilizing a Roth IRA to Stretch Out Tax Benefits

A Roth IRA offers distinctive retirement-savings benefits since under current law, investments in this type of account can grow tax-deferred and withdrawals are tax-free. It also gives you the ability to avoid early distribution penalties on some withdrawals. If you have a significant balance in your IRA and don’t plan to tap that balance during your lifetime, you may want to consider converting your IRA to a Roth IRA since it can benefit your estate. How? Well, the contributions made to a Roth IRA have the potential to grow larger than it otherwise might under traditional distribution rules, which means you’re...

10 March

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Reverse Mortgages Becoming Popular Financial Planning Tool, But Can Impact Your Ability to Qualify for Medicaid

Posted by KarenLewis

in Bobby's Blog

Reverse mortgages have quickly become a popular financial planning tool and there are many benefits associated with this type of mortgage. However, there are some potential drawbacks you should be aware of when it comes to qualifying for Medicaid benefits. This isn’t meant to dissuade you from considering a reverse mortgage, just advice to help you in how to best arrange the method in which you obtain the equity from a reverse mortgage. Here’s how a reverse mortgage works – you take out a reverse mortgage loan and have the option of receiving the home equity through: (1)...

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...

06 February

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Reading Between the Lines: Why a Professional Estate Plan is Far Superior to a Cookie Cutter Online Will

Posted by KarenLewis

in Bobby's Blog

Web sites like Legal Zoom, Total Legal, and others offer inexpensive, pre-formatted wills designed for people to simply plug in a few names, some items, and, presto chango, you have a will. Many people purchase these “cookie cutter” documents under the mistaken belief that this type of will is going to protect and properly disburse their assets to loved ones. Unfortunately, that often isn’t the case. Let me preface this by stating that I fully appreciate the value of the services offered by Legal zoom and other pre-made document web sites. For many people, the prospect of creating a will,...

06 February

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How a Prenuptial Agreement can Impact Your Estate Plan

Posted by KarenLewis

in Current Events

By Bobby Feisee, Ashburn Estate Planning Attorney With divorce rates reaching over 50 percent in the United States, more people decide enter into a prenuptial agreement before they get married. These agreements are especially common with families composed of children from a previous marriage or relationship. A prenuptial agreement is a legal document that is agreed upon and signed by both parties before marriage. A thorough agreement should fully disclose the financial assets of both you and your spouse. For example, savings accounts, stocks, interests in trusts and estates, and so forth. Prenuptial agreements also deal with any...