Estate Planning

Jenny Ling, a local attorney, wrote this article in her October 2018 Newsletter, which I found very useful. We all want to avoid paying unnecessary taxes or medical costs, allowing us to pass more money to our kids when we die. However, as Jenny explains, transferring ownership of your house to your kids isn't the best way to do this.

Many of my clients know how much my husband and I love to explore the world through travel. Since we are both able to work remotely, we're able to get away about once every quarter. Although some of those trips are in the US, many are not.

Scenario 1: A couple in their 40's have one child and modest savings. They're comfortable with having all their assets pass to the surviving spouse should one of them die. Mom gets a $400,000 inheritance at her parents' death. Mom dies and Dad inherits all his wife's assets, as planned. One year later Dad remarries.