No Tax Gift

Starting January 1, 2009 the annual gift tax exclusion amount per gift is $13,000.  This means that any person can give a present gift of $13,000 to as many individuals as they wish and not pay any gift tax on the transfer.  Start Gifting!  

Why File an Estate Tax Return?

When an individual dies the Internal Revenue Service requires the filing of an Estate Tax Return, Form 706.  The Return is due within 9 months of the date of death with a possible 6 month extension.  You are not required to file the Return if your assets are under the lifetime exclusion amount (dying in 2009 $3,500,000) however it is always a good idea to consider filing anyway. When you file the Return with the IRS you solidify the value of your property as of the date of death.  This can be beneficial when the property is later sold and a capital gains tax needs to be calculated.  When an individual inherits property they acquire the property at the value as of the date of death of the transferor.  For example, Grandpa passes away and leaves you a house he bought in 1945 for $35,000.  You decide that you do not want the house and sell it for 

$1,200,000 in 2009.  This event would cause a capital gains tax to be due on the difference between $1,200,000 and $35,000 (a lot of tax), but because you inherited the property you would use the value of the property at your Grandpa's death to calculate the gain causing there to be no tax due.  Something to think about when deciding if filing a return is necessary!

Everybody Needs To!!

Sometimes we think..."Why do I need to do estate planning? I don't have much stuff to worry about. Estate planning is only for the wealthy." This is absolutely untrue. Everybody needs to do at the very least a Will, General Power of Appointment and a Healthcare Directive. If something were to happen to you tomorrow these three things would at least give the people who care about you enough guidance that they would not be at a loss. You need to do it for them if not for yourself. Your family and close friends are not going to be in any state of mind to try and guess your wishes if you are in the hospital incapacitated or have passed away. Give them the peace of mind that they carried out exactly what you would have wanted.

For more information see http://www.szewlawestateplanning.com/.

Time to be Gifting is NOW

This is the time to be gifting your assets to your family. Unfortunately, the value of so many of our assets have plummeted in value so it is hard to look at the bright side to this situation. The bright side is that you can gift your assets to your family at a lower tax cost if you do it now instead of waiting until the values rise. You are allowed to transfer a certain amount of value without incurring a tax cost so why not get more for your money by transferring when your assets are worth less.

Welcome

Welcome to our estate planning and probate blog. We hope that this blog will assist individuals with gaining necessary information to make good decisions. We look forward to hearing from you!