Aretha Franklin did what she was supposed to in drawing up a last will and testament, but a crucial mistake left her multimillion-dollar estate in chaos.
Social Security COLAs are tied to the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W), a measure of price changes for a selection of goods and services, including food, energy, and medical care, that is reported monthly by the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics.
As life is unpredictable, it is better to start planning sooner rather than later. In fact, upon attaining the legal age of majority in your state of residence (typically at age 18), you should begin considering some form of an estate plan.
There are many reasons, however, to incorporate asset protection trusts into even the simplest estate plan–especially in the context of passing assets to children and grandchildren.
If you plan to pass assets through a will, just remember that most of the time, that will becomes public once the probate estate is closed. Therefore, if you left one of your children out, left your favorite a bit more or are just a private person, you may be better off with a trust.
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Graber & Johnson Law Group, LLC is devoted to serving clients in the highly specialized areas of estate and business planning. Book a time to meet the Graber & Johnson Law Group Kansas Estate Planning Law Firm.