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Concept
Estate planning
Summary
Estate planning is the process of anticipating and arranging for the management and disposal of a person's estate during the person's life in preparation for a person's future incapacity or death. The planning includes the bequest of assets to heirs, loved ones, and/or charity, and may include minimizing gift, estate, and generation-skipping transfer taxes. Estate planning includes planning for incapacity, reducing or eliminating uncertainties over the administration of a probate, and maximizing the value of the estate by reducing taxes and other expenses. The ultimate goal of estate planning can only be determined by the specific goals of the estate owner, and may be as simple or complex as the owner's wishes and needs directs. Guardians are often designated for minor children and beneficiaries with incapacity.
Estate planning may involve a will, trusts, beneficiary designations, powers of appointment, property ownership (for example, joint tenancy with rights of survivorship, tenancy in common, tenancy by the entirety), gifts, and powers of attorney (specifically a durable financial power of attorney and a durable medical power of attorney).
More sophisticated estate plans may cover deferring or decreasing estate taxes or business succession.
Wills are a common estate planning tool, and are usually the simplest device for planning the distribution of an estate. It must be created and executed in compliance with the laws of the jurisdiction where it is created. Ifprobate proceedings may occur in a different jurisdiction, it is important also to ensure that the will complies with the laws of that jurisdiction or that the jurisdiction will follow the provisions of a valid out-of-state will even if those provisions might be invalid for a will executed in that jurisdiction.
A trust may be used as an estate planning tool to direct the distribution of assets after the person who creates the trust passes away or becomes incapacitated. Trusts may be used to provide for the distribution of funds for the benefit of minor children or developmentally disabled children.
Official source
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