It’s a new year! Time to dust of your estate plan and review your documents. While not much may have changed, if anything for that matter, it is still useful to perform an estate plan audit on a regular basis to ensure your documents are always kept up to date.
Did you have mom and dad listed as beneficiaries on your retirement accounts and life insurance policies or in your Will, but now you need to make the change to include your new spouse? Was there a time last year when you thought about changing the age distribution on the testamentary trusts for your children? Has your brother grown too old to serve as your personal representative? Should you establish a living trust instead?
Now is the time to see what needs to be updated and to do so.
Many of you will start compiling items for your accountant to file your taxes and when you do so, take the time to get your papers in order. As Jamie Held mentioned in her post last year, Get Your Affairs In Order, organizing your important documents can alleviate a lot of stress for your spouse and surviving loved ones once you pass away.
Not much has changed in the estate tax laws. We still have the following scenarios for 2012:
- Federal Estate Tax Exemption – $5 Million
- Federal Lifetime Gift Tax Exemption – $5 Million
- Minnesota Estate Tax Exemption – $1 Million
- Minnesota still does not impose a gift tax.
However, all of this may change at the end of 2012. It is worth reviewing your documents to ensure your plan will still be effective should the laws change. Should you have any questions about your current estate plan or need to make changes, contact an attorney to assist you.
