David A. King, Attorney at Law
1416 Kingsley Avenue
Orange Park, FL 32073
(904) 269-6699
Wills and Trusts and Estate Planning
OVERVIEW
We have over
thirty five (35) years of experience in the area of estate planning.
This is a brief overview of the services
that we provide in this area:
1.
SIMPLE
Wills.
2.
COMPLEX
Wills.
Complex Wills are for those persons with:
·
Potential liability for Federal Estate
Tax.
·
Blended families (multiple marriages and
multiple sets of children).
·
Minor children to be cared for in the
event of the untimely demise of both
parents.
·
Minor children or minor grandchildren to
be made beneficiaries.
·
Multiple pieces of real estate in states
other than Florida.
·
A family business to be passed down to the
next generation where the next generation
is already working in the business.
·
A desire to set up a scholarship fund for
children or grandchildren.
·
Children with “special needs”, either
physical or mental or both.
……… and this is a partial list.
3.
ANALYSIS.
If necessary, we will analyze your estate
on an asset-by-asset
basis such that we can derive a total dollar value of
your assets that are subject to the Federal Estate Tax. If your estate is in
excess of the dollar threshold for Federal Estate
Tax liability, we are
prepared to suggest a strategy and review your options to
minimize or
eliminate your family’s Federal Estate Tax liability.
The threshold for the Federal Estate Tax
has been rising in recent years:
| YEAR | EXEMPTION AMOUNT |
| 1976 - 1997 | $ 600,000.00 |
| 1998 | $ 625,000.00 |
| 1999 | $ 650,000.00 |
| 2000 - 2001 | $ 675,000.00 |
| 2002 - 2003 | $ 1,000,000.00 |
| 2004 - 2005 | $ 1,500,000.00 |
| 2006 - 2008 | $ 2,000,000.00 |
| 2009 | $ 3,500,000.00 |
| 2010 | Unlimited |
| 2011 | $ 5,000,000.00 |
| 2012 | $ 5,120,000.00 |
| 2013 | $ 5,250,000.00 |
| 2014 | $ 5,340,000.00 |
| 2015 | $ 5,430,000.00 |
| 2016 | $ 5,450,000.00 |
| 2017 | $ 5,490,000.00 |
| 2018 | $11,200,000.00 |
| 2019 | $11,400,000.00 |
| 2020 | $11,580,000.00 |
| 2021 | $11,700,000.00 |
4.
GIFTING.
Many of our Clients like to do gifting to their children or other loved ones.
They might choose to do so on an annual basis or on a less regular basis.
Gifts that annually exceed a specific dollar amount require the filing of a
Federal Gift Tax
Return with the IRS. We frequently help clients with their gifting strategy.
The threshold for the Federal
Gift Tax Return has been rising in recent years:
| YEAR | EXEMPTION AMOUNT |
| 1976 - 2001 | $10,000.00 |
| 2002 - 2005 | $11,000.00 |
| 2006 - 2008 | $12,000.00 |
| 2009 - 2012 | $13,000.00 |
| 2013 - 2017 | $14,000.00 |
| 2018 - 2021 | $15,000.00 |
5.
TRUSTS.
We draft and prepare many types of trusts.
Some, but not all, of
the types of trusts
that we create, are:
·
Living Trusts
(sometimes referred to as Revocable Living
Trusts)
·
Children’s Trusts
(“Kiddie Trusts”)
·
Scholarship Trusts
·
Insurance Trusts
·
Special Needs Trusts
·
Pet Trusts
·
Bypass Trusts
a.
Revocable Living Trust:
The primary purpose of this type of trust is
the minimization or
avoidance of subjecting your assets to the
probate process after
your death. A
Revocable Living Trust is helpful if you own real estate in states other
than Florida because it will avoid your heirs having to do separate ancillary
probates in each
state where you own real estate.
Further, a Revocable Living Trust is helpful as
you get older and
start to lose your ability to handle your affairs by yourself.
Contrary to
what you may see or hear in advertisements, Revocable Living Trusts
are not
the best answer for everyone. If we determine that a Revocable Living Trust
is not in your best interest, we will analyze your assets on an
asset-by-asset basis,
and devise an alternative strategy for each asset.
Frequently, these alternatives are
of no cost to you other than a small
investment of your time.
b.
Children’s Trust:
We frequently refer to these by their
slang name of
“Kiddie Trust”.
If you have minor children, ask yourself
what would happen
if you and your spouse were both in the same automobile crash or
plane crash and
neither of you survived?
The purpose of this type of trust is to
plan ahead in the unfortunate event that your minor children lose both of
their parents.
The
trustee (of your choosing) will
marshall all of the parents’ assets and then invest
those assets in order to
provide for the long term care of the children.
In addition
to the day-to-day care of the
children, the trustee will be instructed to plan for
and provide for the
post high school education and/or professional training for
the children.
The trustee will then be responsible for
doling out the funds carefully,
so that he or she does not exhaust the trust
funds before the children become
independent.
c.
Insurance Trust:
Insurance trusts are a vehicle
designed
to remove the value of your life insurance from your estate when
your goal is to
minimize or eliminate your liability for the Federal Estate
Tax. These are rarely needed after the most recent changes to the Federal Estate Tax.
d.
Special Needs Trust:
The purpose of this type of trust is to
provide
for the special care and education of a child or an adult who faces
unique
physical or mental challenges.
It is designed not to jeopardize his or
her access
to any public benefits that are available to persons with such
challenges.
e.
Pet Trust:
The purpose of this type of trust is to
provide
for the custody, care and contol of the "family pet animals" that have been
purchased, given to, or adopted by, the family.
f.
Scholarship Trust:
This type of trust is just what the name
implies. This type of trust is designed to provide college, professional or technical
training and
education for children or grandchildren.
They can be created by parents or by
grandparents.
If necessary, scholarship trusts can also
be used to reduce your
Federal Estate Tax liability.
They can be designed to provide:
·
tuition only
·
tuition and books
·
tuition and books
and room and board
g. Bypass Trust: Prior to the 2010 changes to the Federal Estate Tax, this was the basic building block for couples with a Federal Estate Tax problem. It was the most common tool to minimize or eliminate payment of the Federal Estate Tax. This method of minimizing Federal Estate Tax is no longer necessary. Spouses now inherit their deceased spouse's Federal Estate Tax exemption along with the deceased spouse's assets.
6.
ADVANCE DIRECTIVES
This general category includes:
·
Living Wills
·
Health Care
Surrogates
·
Powers of Attorney
a.
LIVING WILL:
In its simplest form, a Living Will is a
written
declaration by an individual that says “If I am in a terminal
condition, with no
hope of recovery (as determined by 2 individual
physicians), do not connect my body to a machine to keep my body alive
artificially.”
b.
POWERS OF ATTORNEY:
General Power of Attorney:
1.
Typically, but not always, used for
a specific event or a specific transaction.
2.
Typically has a limited time of duration.
3.
A general power of attorney lapses at the
signer’s death or incompetency.
Durable Power of Attorney:
1.
Typically given by one spouse to the other
spouse, or from a parent to a child or from a child to a parent.
2.
Typically includes a broad range of powers
for many different kinds of events or transactions.
3.
A durable power of attorney is valid until
revoked.
4.
A durable power of attorney lapses on the
death of the signer
but it does
not lapse at the signer’s incompetency.
Health Care Surrogate:
In its simplest form, it is a
written declaration by an individual, that says, “If I am physically or
mentally unable to communicate my wishes, concerning my health care
decisions, to my doctor, to my nurse or to my hospital, then I want the
person named in this document to do so for me.”
The estate planning process frequently requires multiple office and/or telephone conferences; however, all of your office conferences are face-to-face with an attorney and never with staff persons. We try to customize your estate plan to your unique situation. We have two additional goals: (1) Minimize or eliminate your liability for the Federal Estate Tax, and/or (2) minimize or eliminate the necessity of probate after your death.
The hiring of a lawyer is an important decision that should not be based solely on advertisements.
Before you decide, ask us to send you free, written information about our qualifications and experience.
© 2011 - 2021 David A. King, Attorney at Law