Wealth Transfer

“How can we complement what you have already put in place, and how can we help involve your children?”

Clients frequently reach out to their investment Advisors in narrow, tactical ways instead of using them to meet broad strategic goals. Our "big picture"process integrates direction from your financial, tax and estate planning professionals to ensure transparency, while avoiding redundancy, unnecessary costs and unintended consequences.

Families and their advisors should examine the cumulative net estate in question and shape strategies to minimize the most impactful taxes, using portability, Credit Shelter Trusts or other vehicles to help capture stepped up basis.

Income tax matters a great deal in preserving wealth. For many families, (under 10M in assets), higher estate tax exemptions have shifted the priority away from traditional estate planning to one which achieves stepped up basis at the second death, something a traditional Bypass trust will not accomplish.

Families with larger estates will continue to use more traditional estate planning strategies to minimize estate tax, including the use of life insurance trusts, valuation discount and charitable planning.

The most important guidance we can provide our clients is to "think big picture," be thorough, and work with a team of trusted advisors who will collaborate on the most likely successful outcome for your family.