Estate Planning
Estate Planning ensures that the wealth and business that you spent a life time building are pdistributed according to your wishes and protected from taxes and other fees as much as possible.
Learn more about estate taxes.
IFG helps you manage your Estate Plan with instant access. Our unique technology enables you to easily complete your attorney drafted documents conveniently from the comfort of your home or office.
The Revocable Living Trust is the centerpiece of your Estate Planning Portfolio. The trust is completely under your control. As the name implies, your trust is fully revocable while you are alive. You may alter, amend (in whole or in part), or even revoke your trust at any time. You can transfer your assets back out of your trust just as easily as you transfer assets into your Trust.
The person who manages the Trust is called the Trustee (in most cases you are the Trustee initially). After your passing, the successor Trustee you appointed can manage and distribute assets to the beneficiaries of the Trust.
If you have children (even grown kids), you have the option of creating a sub-trust to hold their assets until they reach a certain age or split distributions over time at three different ages. This prevents a potentially immature young adult from receiving a windfall that might cause more damage than good.
You can allow early withdrawal for educational expenses, a first home, wedding or even a business. And you can stipulate certain beneficiaries as “income only”, prevent them from getting a “lump sum” distribution, and allow them only to draw income for education, maintenance and support.
Living Will and Advanced Health Care Directives allow you to determine how you want medical care administered if you have a terminal illness or are in a comatose state.
If such a condition should happen to you, these instruments make sure that medical professionals understand your wishes (such as if you desire whether or not to be kept alive by artificial means).
Your Living Will agents are also considered to be the guardians of your person. In most cases, your Advanced Health Care Directive can take the place of a Living Will.
Many healthcare providers require a Durable Power of Attorney for Healthcare in conjunction with a Living Will to carry out the decrees of a Living Will. It is important that your agents for your Durable Power of Attorney for Healthcare are the same as your Living Will. (Both documents are included in your comprehensive estate plan.)
A Durable HIPAA Statement grants an exception to the privacy restrictions of the HIPAA law to allow for personal information to be provided to the Agents you have appointed so they can make an informed decision regarding your medical care.
The Last Will and Testament included in your document set is better described as a “Pour-Over Will”. It is used in conjunction with a Revocable Living Trust and its primary function is to convey everything you have forgotten to fund into the trust prior to your death (hence “pour-over”).
This is important because unless your remaining assets are minimal in value, all non-trust (un-funded) assets must go through probate first.
Be sure to use the Comprehensive Funding Kit (below) to keep your asset funding up-to-date. In addition, you may appoint guardians for your minor or disabled adult dependents so you can be assured who will take custody.
“Durable” means that the appointment of the power will “endure” even after your incapacitation. A Power of Attorney will give your appointed agent the power to make certain decisions on your behalf when you are unable to do so.
Durable Financial Power of Attorney
Durable Power of Attorney for Healthcare
Durable Agent Notice
Your Trust is like an empty basket. You must fill this basket with your assets by transferring them into the Trust. This process is called “Funding”. To avoid probate, its vital to fully fund your trust once completed, so we have developed our exclusive Funding Kit to help you through the process of moving your assets into the Trust, (called “Funding”). The Funding Kit provides detailed instructions on nearly every possible type of asset and how you can fund it into your Trust.