Estate Planning Checklist for 2024

Estate planning is more than writing a will; it’s a plan to manage the legacy you want to pass to your loved ones.  It documents your healthcare preferences, prepares for aging and incapacity and conveys your assets to those you choose.   The National Council on Aging (NCOA) Adviser’s article, “Estate Planning Guide and Checklist for 2024,” offers an overview of what to consider when planning your estate.  There is no perfect checklist as all estate plans should be tailored to the individuals using them, and so what you may want or need could vary, but it’s certainly a good idea of what to consider.

So, this blog will cover an estate planning checklist for 2024.

Understanding Estate Planning

Estate planning organizes your affairs to fulfill your wishes after you pass away. It encompasses decisions about money, property, medical care and care for your beneficiaries. The process includes creating essential documents like wills, trusts, powers of attorney, medical documents and more.  Estate planning provides peace of mind that your wishes are known and respected, benefiting your loved ones, so it is important to consider all of the key documents in the estate planning checklist.

Key Documents in Estate Planning

  • Wills: A legal document that outlines how to distribute assets after your death.
  • Trusts: Contracts that allow a third party, or trustee, to hold property and other assets on behalf of a beneficiary.  These are used for many purposes depending on what kind of trust, such as tax planning or probate avoidance.
  • Powers of Attorney: Legal documents that grant someone else the authority to make decisions on your behalf, such as if you want to delegate to someone or because of your own incapacity.
  • Medical Documents: Documents that state your wishes regarding medical treatment when you cannot communicate your choices.  These, depending on your state, including documents like medical powers of attorney, directive to physicians (living will), HIPAA authorization or similar documents.
  • Disposition of Remains. Some states, such as Texas, have a standalone estate planning document that indicates what your final disposition wishes are, such as cremation or burial, and who is in charge of seeing that through. Other states work these concerns into existing documents.
  • Guardianship for Children.  This isn’t applicable to everyone, but if you have minor children you can name a guardian to care for them should you pass away.  This is often one of the main reasons why young couples even consider estate planning.

Key Takeaways

  • Common Estate Planning Documents: Wills, trusts, financial power of attorney and medical documents are fundamental to estate plans.
  • Everyone Needs a Will, but Consider a Trust: Regardless of the size of your estate, a will is crucial to fulfill your wishes.  What you do beyond that is dependent on your goals and situation, but always consider a trust.  People tend to assume a trust is only for the rich, but trusts are very versatile and help with many client concerns in a way that wills cannot.
  • Review Your Estate Plan Regularly: The original article says update your estate plan regularly, I say review it.  If you don’t review it regularly, it is easy to  forget the details, which makes the estate plan difficult to properly implement and even harder to update.  2024 is an excellent year to review because the estate tax thresholds are changing in 2026, exposing more clients to estate taxes than in the past.

Conclusion

Consider estate planning to be a critical process to protect your assets, provide for beneficiaries and have peace of mind for the future. Follow the estate planning checklist to create your personalized estate plan.

Reference: NCOA Adviser (Aug 21, 2023): Estate Planning Guide and Checklist for 2024.

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Can I Decline an Inherited IRA?

The rules governing inherited Individual Retirement Accounts (IRAs) have changed over the years. They have become even more complex since the passage of the original SECURE Act with the passage of SECURE 2.0. The inheritor of an IRA may be required to empty the account and pay taxes on the resulting income within 10 years. In some situations, beneficiaries might choose to execute a Qualified Disclaimer and avoid inheriting the IRA, according to a recent article, “How to Opt Out of Inheriting an IRA” from Think Advisor.

Paying taxes on the distributions could put a beneficiary into a higher tax bracket. In some situations, beneficiaries may want to execute a Qualified Disclaimer and avoid inheriting both the account and the tax consequences associated with the inheritance.  Sometimes clients would rather pass wealth to another person or later generation, and income producing assets such as IRAs are attractive options for that.

Individuals who use a Qualified Disclaimer are treated as if they never received the property at all. Of course, you don’t enjoy the benefits of the inheritance but don’t receive the tax bill.  See here for more on how disclaimers work.  https://galligan-law.com/can-you-refuse-an-inheritance-disclaimer/

Suppose the decedent’s estate is large enough to trigger the federal estate tax. In that case, generation-skipping transfer tax issues may come into play, depending on whether there are any contingent beneficiaries.

An experienced estate planning attorney is needed to ensure that the disclaimer satisfies all requirements and is treated as a Qualified Disclaimer. It must be in writing, and it must be irrevocable. It also needs to align with any state law requirements.

The person who wishes to disclaim the IRA must provide the IRA custodian or the plan administrator with written notice within nine months after the latter of two events: the original account owner’s death or the date the disclaiming party turns 21 years old. The disclaiming person must also execute the disclaimer before receiving the inherited IRA or any of the benefits associated with the property.

Once the disclaimer is made, the inherited IRA must pass to the remaining beneficiaries without the disclaiming party’s involvement.

This is very important, but the disclaiming party cannot decide who will receive their interests, such as directing the inherited IRA to go to their child. Instead, the asset goes to the next beneficiary as if the disclaimer passed away before the account holder.  If the disclaiming party’s child is already named as a beneficiary, their interest will be received as intended by that child.

The person inheriting the account must execute the disclaimer before receiving any benefits from the account. Even electing to take distributions will prevent the disclaimer from being effective, even if the person has not received any funds.

In some cases, you may be able to disclaim a portion of the inherited IRA. However, these are specific cases requiring the experience of an estate planning attorney.

Reference: Think Advisor (Feb. 8, 2024) “How to Opt Out of Inheriting an IRA”

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3 Key Reasons to Use a Trust

Estate planning is plumbing: sophisticated, legal plumbing to move your assets from you to whomever you wish.  An estate planning attorney designs the plumbing based upon your concerns, whether they be incapacity planning, taxes, creditors or other issues.

The two main tools estate planning attorneys use to build these pipes are wills and trusts.  Planners often use trusts as part of the estate plan design because they are versatile.  They solve more problems than a will.  There are many reasons to consider using a trust as opposed to only a will, and here are three key reasons to use a trust:

Understanding Wills vs. Trusts

A will is simple in purpose.  It outlines who gets what and who speaks for you after you are gone.  It requires the probate process to approve it and appoint the person you named to act for you, but otherwise is a straightforward document.

The trust, however, does more.  The trust provides who gets what and who speaks for your stuff after you are gone, without court involvement.  But, it does this through holding your assets or receiving them at death, managing and distributing them according to your instructions, both during your lifetime and after. Unlike a will, a trust offers a private, probate-free path tailored to personal circumstances.

See this article for more:  https://galligan-law.com/will-vs-living-trust-a-quick-and-simple-reference-guide/

You Have a Blended Family

Blended families are like tapestries – intricate, colorful and diverse. However, this beauty can result in complexity when it comes to estate planning. With children, stepchildren and multiple parents involved, a will’s one-size-fits-all approach may unravel the fabric you’ve so carefully woven.

A trust, however, can be the tailor to your tapestry. It allows you to:

  1. Specify exact allocations: Deciding who gets what, when and how.
  2. Protect your children’s inheritance: Ensuring that your children, not just your spouse’s, benefit from your estate.
  3. Avoid unintended consequences: Preventing your assets from unintentionally passing to a new spouse’s children in the event of remarriage.

You Own Property in Multiple States

The second of reason to use a trust is owning property in multiple states.  This is one of the hallmark reasons to use a trust and virtually always leads to using a trust.  Probate in Texas isn’t that bad.  But, if you own property in multiple states, you won’t just probate in Texas, you may have to probate in every state where you own land.  That is far more work for your loved ones, and you will have to anticipate the law of several states, not just Texas.

The trust can own the property in all of those states and by virtue of its ownership, the land can avoid probate.  It allows for:

  1. Centralized management: One entity handling all properties, irrespective of location.
  2. Smoother transition: Bypassing multiple state probate processes.
  3. Cost and time efficiency: Reducing legal fees and administrative delays.

You Value Privacy and Want to Avoid Probate

The last of the 3 key reasons to use a trust is privacy.  Probate, by its nature, is public.  Probate is Latin for “prove it,” so the process involves publicly displaying the will for the world to see.  Parts of it can be private in certain circumstances, but is designed to be public.

A trust, conversely, is the private screening of your final act. It shields your estate from the public eye and sidesteps the time-consuming, often costly, probate process. With a trust you’re not just planning; you’re protecting.  Trusts, short of a dispute, aren’t even filed so the process can remain very private.

Additional Considerations

When it comes to estate planning, one size does not fit all. The decision between a will and a trust should be weighed with:

  • Incapacity planning:  This is reason 3.5.  Trusts allow a trustee to manage property which gives greater control over assets while a loved one is incapacitated.
  • Tax implications: Understanding how each option affects your estate tax-wise.
  • Personalized solutions: Every estate is unique, as is every state, and so should be its plan.
  • Long-Term care planning:  Probate avoidance is a key factor for Medicaid planning

In the tapestry of estate planning, trusts emerge as a nuanced, flexible thread, weaving through the complexities of blended families, multi-state properties and privacy concerns. If these signs resonate with your situation, it might be time to consider a trust.

Remember, the best estate plan is one tailored to your unique story. We encourage you to seek professional estate guidance to navigate these waters.

 

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