Parker & Associates, P.A.

Parker & Associates, P.A. is a full-service residential and commercial real estate law firm

Estate Planning Isn’t Just For The Rich

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You may not realize it, but you have an estate and “Estate Planning” isn’t just for the rich.

In fact, for families with relatively modest assets, good estate planning is crucial because they can afford to lose less of their wealth.

Your estate consists of everything you own - your car, your home, bank or investment accounts, life insurance or just some personal belongings. Estate planning allows you to determine who gets what and when, with as little as possible going towards taxes, legal fees, and court costs, but that’s not all it does…

In addition to a will, an estate planning attorney will work with you to create a health care proxy and durable power of attorney that communicates your wishes clearly, and they’ll guide you through the implications of each complex decision.

Federal and, in some cases, state taxes on estates, inheritances, and gifts can be among the highest. Minimizing the tax burden increases what you leave behind for your heirs.

Estate and gift taxes usually have exemption limits, this meaning you can only give up to a certain amount without being taxed. For this reason, many people use the gift tax exemption to start transferring assets while they are still alive.

Estate planning helps you organize your financial records, titles, and insurance policies so your heirs can find them if you become disabled or at the time of your death and it helps unearth any errors on titles or beneficiary designations that could lead to devastating tax consequences.

Death and disability don’t always give us fair warning so the time to get your affairs in order is now.

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Estate Planning For The Digital Era

It has become the norm to store financial records in smartphones, computers, or the cloud, and to conduct financial transactions electronically.

Most people also own a trove of digital assets, which can include anything from domain names and electronically stored photos and videos to email and social media accounts.

The average person has roughly $35,000 worth of assets stored on digital devices. That value includes purchased movies, books, music and games as well as personal memories, communications, personal records, hobbies and career information. Of those surveyed by the study, 55 percent said they store assets that would be impossible to recreate, re-download or repurchase.

Unfortunately, those assets are increasingly at risk of being lost when the account owner dies. Many digital accounts are subject to complicated terms of service agreements, which can often make it difficult or impossible for surviving loved ones to access them.

Additionally, state and federal laws could put friends and relatives who try to log on to your accounts at risk of violating anti-hacking and privacy statutes.

You may have planned for your loved ones to eventually inherit your house, the Steinway grand piano, your Dad's 88-year-old Swiss watch, or other family heirlooms, but with life increasingly being lived online, you may be overlooking an increasingly important kind of property: Digital assets.

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