Estate Planning really encompasses two core concepts:
- minimizing estate and transfer taxes, and
- transferring assets to others according to your wishes.
To accomplish both of these goals, multiple professionals are typically needed. These professionals include:
- CPA to advise on the tax issues
- Attorney to advise on the transference of assets issues
- Investment Professional to advise on the management of the assets
- Insurance Agent to provide the insurance products, which are some of the most effective tools in estate planning.
- The team at ELIA International Consulting Services includes all of these professionals. This section of our web site gives an overview of the estate planning concept typically associated with a CPA.
- Attorney to advise on the legal aspects of Estate Planning
- Investment Professional to advise on the asset management aspect of Estate Planning
- Insurance Agent to provide some of the most effective tools in Estate Planning
With regard to Estate Taxes, without proper planning, a large portion of your estate, in some cases, over 70%, could be needlessly lost to taxes, fees, administrative expenses, and probate. But more importantly, without a proper plan, you will be leaving your family with the burden of paying estate taxes from an estate that may not be readily converted into cash. In this all too frequent situation, grieving family members are forced to sell the assets you spent a lifetime acquiring, at below fair value, just to pay the government. By having a proper estate plan, this situation can often be avoided, allowing your family to retain and enjoy the benefits of your lifetime of hard work.
Many people put off thinking about the unpleasant prospect of death by rationalizing that estate planning should not begin until they are elderly. This misconception could not be further from the truth. Often, properly executed estate planning strategies will take many years to complete. The decision to begin estate planning usually comes with the acceptance of our ultimate mortality, and the understanding that, by not planning, you are simply choosing to give more of your assets to the government through unnecessary taxes, as opposed to leaving these assets to your heirs. At Ikom Partners, we can help you take control over your choices.