We can help you build a comprehensive estate plan that meets your goals and helps you provide for your beneficiaries. Goals such as your children's education, your family's economic independence, or your support for charities can all be achieved through your estate plan.
In completing the attached checklists, consider the following issues and opportunities:

• Your Will and overall estate plan should provide for an orderly distribution of your estate to the intended beneficiaries.
• Establishing a trust for your spouse and/or children can help you realize many tax advantages and preserve assets. Generally, there are two types of trusts:
  
  
  1. A living trust (established during your lifetime), and
  2. A testamentary trust (outlined in your Will and takes effect only after your death).

• If you are 65 years of age or older, you may consider new tax planning vehicles, such as the Alter-ego trust and the Joint Partner trust. In both cases, assets can be transferred to the trust during your lifetime, without triggering immediate tax consequences. Such assets can pass outside the Will and will not be subject to probate.
• Based on your present asset mix, you may consider using multiple Wills in order to minimize probate fees. Assets that are not otherwise subject to probate can be dealt with in the secondary Will, while the primary Will governs others.
• Consider your intentions regarding jointly owned property such as real estate, bank accounts and investments. Although jointly owned property is not subject to probate, your true intentions for ownership rights and possible tax implications must not be over looked.
• Consider passing assets to your beneficiaries while you are still alive. Gifting assets before you die can reduce probate fees payable by the estate. However there are many other factors that should be considered when gifting assets. For example, a capital gain may be triggered when you transfer an asset worth more then when you bought it.