You can choose to start receiving Social Security retirement benefits at any time between ages 62 and 70. So, how do you know when the time is right? Here’s a short overview of how your benefits are affected by the age at which you begin receiving them. Social security benefits are calculated based on two elements. The first is your earnings history, and the second is the difference between your “normal retirement age” and the age at which you begin receiving benefits. Normal Retirement … [Read more...] about Social Security: What’s the Right Retirement Age for You?
What Happens to Social Security Benefits When Your Spouse Passes Away?
Social Security does not only provide benefits for primary recipients, it also provides benefits for surviving spouses. These benefits are called “widow’s” benefits, although they’re payable to either a surviving husband or a surviving wife. How do they work? Here’s a brief overview: Generally, the widow’s benefit is equal to the deceased spouse’s Social Security benefit. However, if your spouse has passed away and he or she had a lower Social Security benefit than you, your benefit will not be … [Read more...] about What Happens to Social Security Benefits When Your Spouse Passes Away?
Green Funerals
Going green is becoming a part of life for more and more people. If you want to make an impact beyond the eco-conscious decisions you make during your living years, you can opt for a green funeral. The traditional funeral makes a huge environmental impact, and a green funeral involves choosing to reduce that impact. There are a number of ways you can do this, including: Forgo Embalming: Embalming fluid contains large amounts of formaldehyde, plus other toxic chemicals. Not only are these … [Read more...] about Green Funerals
Life Insurance and Final Bills: How It Works
Will your life insurance policy have to be used to pay off your final bills and debts? The answer to that question depends, in large part, on the beneficiary designation of your policy. Policy Payable to Estate There are two ways for your life insurance policy to be paid to your estate. First, you might actually designate your estate as beneficiary of your policy. Second, you might designate a person as beneficiary who dies before you. If this happens, and you don’t appoint a new beneficiary … [Read more...] about Life Insurance and Final Bills: How It Works
Essential Paperwork for Settling an Estate
What are the first steps in settling a loved one’s estate? Whether the foundation of your loved one’s estate plan was a will or a trust, you’ll need to schedule an appointment with a probate attorney relatively soon after the death – within a few weeks, if possible. And, you’ll want to gather the following paperwork to take with you to the appointment. Estate Planning Documents: If there’s a will, you’ll need the original, plus any original codicils. If there’s a trust, a copy of the trust … [Read more...] about Essential Paperwork for Settling an Estate
It’s Official: The Return of the Estate Tax
Congress has passed the Tax Relief, Unemployment Insurance Reauthorization and Job Creation Act of 2010 ,and on December 17, President Obama signed it into law. Among the many things the new law does is give us temporary certainty as to the status of the federal estate and gift taxes. Here’s a brief rundown: As for the estate tax, the maximum rate is 35%, and there’s a $5 million individual exemption. Any exemption that is unused by the estate of one deceased spouse may be used by the … [Read more...] about It’s Official: The Return of the Estate Tax
What to Do With Your Old Will
Probably the second-best estate planning advice you’ll ever receive is to make sure you keep your plan updated to reflect changes in your family, your finances, and the law. (The best advice, of course, is simply to make an effective estate plan in the first place.) But, this brings to mind the question, once you’ve updated your estate plan by making a new Will, what do you do with your old one? The answer is to destroy it. The easiest way to do this is simply run it through the … [Read more...] about What to Do With Your Old Will
The New Gift Tax Law
Back in December, the law that’s become known as the Tax Relief Act of 2010 (TRA 2010) was signed. In addition to a new estate tax threshold, not to mention quite a list of other provisions, TRA 2010 made changes to the federal gift tax law. Here’s a quick look: There are still two types of exemptions when it comes to the tax: the annual gift tax exemption, and the lifetime exclusion. They work together in determining whether you have to report gifts you’ve made during a particular year, as … [Read more...] about The New Gift Tax Law
Challenging a Will: Lack of Capacity
How do you know if someone is of sound mind when he or she makes a Will? And, if you don’t think that a loved one was of sound mind when his or her Will was made, can you challenge the Will? The legal term for being of sound mind is “testamentary capacity”, and there are a number of elements that go into having testamentary capacity. A person can challenge a Will on the basis of lack of testamentary capacity. In order to do this, he or she has to prove that one of these elements was missing … [Read more...] about Challenging a Will: Lack of Capacity
Blended Family? Make Sure No One is Left Out in the Cold
The blended family has become the most common family arrangement in America, and if you’re a member of one of these families, you know firsthand how complicated the family dynamics can get. When it comes to estate planning, it can be a challenge to make sure you’ve protected everyone’s interests and taken care of everyone’s needs. Despite the best of intentions, unless you have the proper guidance it can be easy to unintentionally disinherit a child or step-child. Here are two scenarios: 1) … [Read more...] about Blended Family? Make Sure No One is Left Out in the Cold
