Estate Planning

Princess Diana Thought So… Princess Diana of Wales was one of the world’s most loved celebrities – and one of the richest. Her tragic death in 1997 was world news. The majority of her estate, reportedly worth $40 million at the time of her death, was divided between Prince William and Prince Harry in her estate plan.

Now is the time to begin looking at ways to minimize your 2019 income tax bill. This letter outlines several strategies to consider before the end of the year. We realize this is a lot of tax talk, but rest assured, we’re happy to walk you through how to determine the best strategy for you layman’s terms.

Estate planning, like retirement planning or life insurance, is an important step to ensure your family’s well-being in times of uncertainty. You may have heard about estate planning before, but may be unsure as to exactly what an estate plan is. We want to help answer that question.

Signing away ownership of assets often seems contradictory when you start to think about creating an estate plan that gives you control of what happens to your accumulated assets and meets your goals for financially protecting loved ones.

However, you might wish to create an Irrevocable Trust for many purposes, such as reducing taxes, gifting, and asset protection. Assets placed inside cannot be easily removed later because you essentially relinquish ownership of those assets to the trust.

Farming or ranching is more than a means of livelihood – it is about preserving a legacy and unique way of life. An out of date or inadequate estate plan could result in a farm or ranch that has been passed down for generations ending up being sold and converted into non-agricultural use.

2018 was no stranger to natural disasters. From multiple earthquakes, back-to-back hurricanes, and raging wildfires, the United States and abroad has suffered some serious natural disasters. These acts of nature can devastate your life and your family. Who knows what 2019 will bring.