Experience has shown that many families of wealth unwittingly outgrow their coverage and can be severely under-protected. To help assess the insurance choices available, there are factors to consider when evaluating an insurance advisor and uncovering the right insurance resource.
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Every state has its own set of rules for assessing income tax against a trust. In some situations, a trust might be required to file tax returns in three or more separate states. Recently, the U.S. Supreme Court decided a case that addresses how a state may tax a particular trust. We take a closer look at that decision and how it impacts state taxation of trusts—and possibly you. With careful thought, and the assistance of counsel, there are opportunities and tools available to draft trusts that can minimize, if not eliminate, state trust taxation.
Families spend a lifetime building a legacy and tragically, just one lawsuit can place that legacy in jeopardy. Without that critical layer of personal liability insurance, your are at risk. Personal excess liability coverage—commonly called an umbrella policy—protects individuals from a covered claim brought against them, personal injury, or property damage in excess of underlying policies.
Over the past decade, matriarchs and patriarchs of successful families have been shifting their focus from their children to a broader group of individuals, such as grandchildren, siblings, and nieces. Often, they choose to create family banks, which are typically trusts that are funded to help individuals pursue entrepreneurial opportunities, venture philanthropy, and knowledge in a structured and more-likely-to-succeed manner. Family banks can be customized to fit a family’s agenda, and the risks inherent in family banks can be thoughtfully managed.
The best time to install protective devices or materials in your home is during a renovation, addition, or new construction. Consider the following recommendations early in your planning stages to increase safety, lessen the likelihood of damage, and help minimize installation costs. Some proactive measures may even result in savings on your homeowners insurance premium.
The best time to prepare your home for the cold weather, snowfall, ice accumulation, and storms is before winter sets in. For added protection, recommended tips are provided to help you get a head start.
Winter-related claims add up to over $1 billion each year across the insurance industry. One common—yet often overlooked—cause of costly damage is ice damming. By taking proactive measures and making crucial upgrades to your home, you can help prevent ice damming damage.
For the investors who like the tax benefits of Section 1031 (aka “Like-Kind”) Exchanges, they should consider a new option for sheltering real estate capital gains: Qualified Opportunity Zone Funds (QOZF). These funds have arisen as a result of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, which designated Qualified Opportunity Zones to promote investment in economically distressed areas. While 1031s remain a useful tool, QOZFs have many tax and other advantages compared with 1031s.
Families with complex assets, such as family businesses, as well as those who have portfolios managed by multiple advisors, may find trustees reluctant to administer their trusts. This is because, in many states, the trustees remain liable for the actions of delegated third-parties or even named advisors. Delaware directed trusts can alleviate this issue, and when drafted properly, can offer the settlor more opportunity for control, flexibility, and customization to accomplish the family’s financial and estate planning goals.
Wealth coaching is essentially the study of one’s relationship with money and wealth. We all have a relationship with money, and through money messages that we learned at an early age, this relationship guides the majority of behaviors throughout our lives. Individuals and families who engage wealth coaches can benefit enormously across a broad spectrum of topics and issues as they participate in difficult conversations, learn about family systems, and devise governance strategies.