Insight on Estate Planning - August/September 2021

Jul 27, 2021   Print PDF

Related Practice: Estate Planning & Administration

Here's a brief glance at what you'll find in the August/September issue...


An ILIT can be a wealth preserver for your family

Life insurance is often an integral part of an estate plan. By acquiring life insurance coverage, a person can provide liquidity when his or her family might need it the most. Of course, a person must account for taxes. For many families, creating an irrevocable life insurance trust (ILIT) to hold a life insurance policy is a common solution. This article explains how an ILIT works. A brief sidebar details the “three-year rule.”

Can an ABLE account benefit your family?

A family with a disabled child faces difficult estate and financial planning challenges. One effective planning tool available to families is the ABLE account. The Achieving a Better Life Experience (ABLE) Act was signed into law in 2014. It created Internal Revenue Code Section 529A, authorizing states to offer tax-advantaged savings accounts for the blind and severely disabled. This article details the ins and outs of an ABLE account.

Family education trusts: Leave a lasting legacy for your heirs

Providing for the educational needs of children, grandchildren and even future generations is an honorable estate planning objective. To achieve this goal a person can use a 529 plan, but after death, there’s no guarantee that subsequent plan owners will continue to use it to fulfill the original vision. An alternative strategy is to create a family education trust that invests in one or more 529 plans. This article explores a 529 plan’s flexibility and explains the benefits of having a family education trust hold a 529 plan.

Estate Planning Pitfall: You’ve amended your will yourself

A common reason for a person to amend a will is because of a change in his or her family’s circumstances, such as adding a newborn grandchild as a beneficiary or removing an adult child’s spouse after a divorce. This brief article explains reasons a person should resist the temptation to make the changes without professional guidance.

What you need to know about the Uniform Electronic Wills Act

With the world becoming more and more digital, it was only a matter of time before the estate planning industry followed suit. In April, Washington Govenor Jay Inslee signed Senate Bill 5132 into law which, among other things, adopted the Uniform Electronic Wills Act. This article is a summary of the key points of the new Act.