Tag: Wealth Transfer

Why You Should Have a Family Meeting

Many folks have not considered holding a family meeting in a slightly more formal setting like one of your advisor’s offices.  There can be many advantages to these. 

Confidence is an important outcome that we talk about here.  Do your spouse and children know what to do if you are not there?  Whether they articulate it in advance or not, most families express a substantial improvement in their sense of security knowing there are caring professionals with knowledge of their situation who are there and ready to help at any point.

This is also a great time to develop and perpetuate family values, principles and mission. A place where we are focused on being good stewards of business and personal wealth and taking care of family can facilitate discussions in this regard. Our team will provide examples if this is your first attempt at reducing your values and principles to writing.

While there are many more benefits to these gatherings, a word should also be said about confidentiality.  A meeting with your advisors does not mean disclosing too many details too early.  It is much less important to share amounts, or even specific assets, than to introduce your team and let your family know that you have thought about, and have a plan for, their long-term wellbeing.

If you have any questions about hosting a family meeting, or if you would like to set up one, please contact us.

*Intended as general guidance only and not as legal advice.

Passing More Wealth To Grandchildren

Want to pass more wealth to grandchildren? 

An idea to consider while exemption amounts are high for estate tax and Generation Skipping Transfer (GST) tax is to protect old trusts from the application of the GST tax that can take a big portion of a trust’s assets before they pass to a skip person, like a grandchild.  A common example of such a trust is an Irrevocable Life Insurance Trust (ILIT) that was set up when exemption amounts were lower.  Since the exemption amounts were not as generous, the advisors may not have recommended using “precious” exemption amounts to protect the trust from GST taxes, especially since there are cases where the tax won’t apply.  Here’s the key point:  You are allowed to make late GST tax allocations to protect such a trust and now could be a great time to do so.

If you do not have a trust in place and are considering whether now might be time to take the steps to protect your assets and loved ones read our previous post.

*Intended as general guidance only and not as legal advice.