Any California estate planning attorney can tell you that there are many, many ways to lower your estate taxes; some are very effective for certain people while for others they are not. Below are two popular methods for lowering estate taxes that might work well for your estate.

Creating a Private Annuity: This is a great way to avoid taxation on an estate, and if this applies to you, you’ll definitely want to ask your California asset management lawyer about it. A private annuity allows the grantor of an estate (through his or her trustee) to sell any asset held within the estate to a son, daughter, or other family member of the next generation. There is something called an “unsecured promise to pay” that applies to the member of the younger generation who purchases the asset (this basically means that there don’t really need to be payments, and unless otherwise stipulated, they can be in pretty much any amount).

Setting up an FLP (Family Limited Partnership): This is a tool in the estate planning tool belt that is often underutilized. An FLP allows for the grantor (or the trustee under the guidance of the grantor) to transfer the ownership of any family business. This business may be a mom and pop partnership or a larger s-corp. The FLP will transfer the business into the name(s) of the child(ren) and in this sense it will protect any assets within the estate from creditors and undue taxation.FLPs are very flexible and allow for the estate to be taxed at the tax rate of the children, which clearly (except in wild anomalies) is far lower.

These are just two tools you’ll want to bring up when you chat with your Newport Beach estate planner. We’ll keep discussing other ways to lower your estate tax—we invite you to peruse the remainder of the Web site.

Have you spoken to your Orange County estate planning attorney recently? Have you ever taken the time to discuss with a wealth strategist what your estate may be worth to you and your loved ones?

Now is the time more than ever.

With estate tax laws changing in the not to distant future, now is the time to discuss the nuts and bolts of estate planning. If you have yet to do this, you won’t want to wait any longer. If you have already done this and think that you’re somehow safeguarded, you’ll want to put a call in to your California asset protection attorney to make sure this is the case.

The fact is, the laws regarding estate taxes and asset taxes are changing. Because of these changes, your estate and assets may be at risk.

You need to know sooner rather than later whether or not the changes in these tax laws will have any affect on your estate or how your assets will be taxed.

If you have not yet created a trust, discuss how this might help certain assets within your estate if some of the new estate taxes will apply to you and your estate.

If you’re like most people, chances are you’ve been putting this discussion off. Now is the time to press pause and contact your Southern California estate planning attorney. If you wait any longer you could be putting yourself at unnecessary risk. Know your rights and let your attorney help you decide what is best for your estate and assets!

Recent statistics indicate that Californians, and indeed Americans in general are not planning their estates. Of course, we have to consider the mass layoffs, the Wall Street scandal that has cost Americans billions, and the slowing of consumer activity.

While these are certainly understandable reasons why estate planning may not seem important, it actually makes it more important than ever.

Protect your assets: even if you have a fraction of what you had five years ago, you need to discuss with a California estate planning lawyer what you can do to protect what you still have.

Save yourself from creditor harassment: if you have assets in a trust or other sheltering vehicle, you can foreclose on a home and not worry about losing what is protected within your estate in offshore and most domestic trusts—but you won’t know if you qualify for this if you don’t discuss it with your Newport Beach asset protection attorney.

According to the most recent statistics concerning wealth management and estate planning, including power of attorney, trusts, and will preparation, 13 percent less Americans are estate planning in 2010 than were in 2007. According to the poll which was conducted by Lawyers.com, just over 70 percent of those asked noted that saving money was more important than estate planning. So where’s the problem? If you’re not protecting what you are earning you it is vulnerable and can easily become the prey of predatory lenders and creditors!

Protect what is yours and discuss the best ways to do it for your unique financial situation. Contact a California estate planning lawyer today—have your questions answered and stop putting off the planning of your estate!

Many people think that when they create a new business venture as an LLC that the assets held therein are completely bulletproof. While it is true that LLCs offer phenomenal protection while also offering great tax benefits to small and medium-sized business owners, the truth of the matter is that when creditors want what they feel they’re owed, they will exercise their rights to the fullest extent of the law. The importance of California business transaction lawyers starts to come into play on what could turn into a battlefield; you need an experienced tactician on your side.

When you create your new LLC, do it with the counsel of a California business transactions attorney to make sure you know exactly what is protected and how. You need to be aware of your creditors and the moves the can pull to get what they want. There are options to make things more difficult to access, but you should NEVER try to understand and implement these on your own – you’re not a legal professional, and you want your company and what it owns safe… and legal.

A creditor can obtain a judgment or foreclose on property if you owe them money. Talk to your California asset management attorney about how this can be avoided and/or ways to establish asset protection for your LLC in California that will better protect what your business entity owns.

California estate planning attorneys have had their eye on this story today. Anyone who watches the news knows by now that a man named Joseph Stack purposefully crashed a plane into the IRS building in Austin, Texas last week.

What many people don’t know is that when he crashed, he killed a man named Vernon Hunter. Hunter’s family is now suing Stack’s estate, and while they did tell the media that their hearts go out to Stack’s wife Stacy, they are aware that she is the executor of his estate.

Imagine your spouse or child in a situation not unlike this one: you’ve passed away and a judgment against your estate is something that your loved one will have to be responsible for while also grieving his or her loss. Not only is this menatlly and emotionally taxing, it’s also a responsibility laden with a variety of issues, including proper record keeping, no formal education in estate planning, and perhaps worst of all, clouded judgement caused by fatigue and being overwhelmed.

These are all good reasons to seek out the help of a Newport Beach estate planning lawyer. An attorney that specializes in trusts and estates can tell you whether your estate should name a family member as the trustee or executor. Only after reviewing your very unique situation should the decision be made — and it should be made by someone who knows the law to the letter, not by some Internet program that can’t advise you otherwise.

If you’re ready to start planning your estate, or if you’d like to revise the trustee of your estate, call Matsen today. Our experienced estate planning and California asset protection lawyers can help you decide what’s best for your estate and your family.