Baby Boomers: Protect your Biggest Asset From Creditors and the IRS!

IRAs and the Retirement Beneficiary Trust

I often find that the single largest asset my baby boomer clients have is in the form of an IRA or 401(k).  When that’s the case, I always counsel my clients about the importance of properly listing the beneficiaries on those accounts so that their estate plan operates the way they want it to. Typically, baby boomers name their spouse as the sole beneficiary of their retirement accounts. When the account owner dies, the surviving spouse has favorable tax laws and a lot of flexibility to decide what happens to their inherited IRA, including rolling it into their own.  However, what does a single or widowed person do with their IRA when they die?

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Clients and Friends:

Re: IRS changes in tax return filing due dates-To be effective in 2017

Effective for returns for tax years beginning after December 31, 2015, the due date of partnership tax returns is changed to March 15th for calendar-year partnerships and to the fifteenth day of the third month after the end of the tax year for partnerships with a fiscal tax year.

To avoid bunching the workload for filing and processing tax returns, the due date for C corporation tax returns is moved to April 15th for calendar-year C corporations and to the fifteenth day of the fourth month for fiscal-year C corporations.

Because tax returns for tax years beginning after December 31, 2015, will be filed in 2017 and thereafter, the new due dates will affect returns filed beginning in 2017.

The Due dates are not changed for tax returns for tax years ending 12/31/15 to be filed in 2016.

—————————————-12/31/2015
—————————————-Due Date
Trust/Estates—Form1041——4/15/2016
C Corporations—Form 1120—3/15/2016
S Corporations—Form 1120S-3/15/2016
Partnerships—Form 1065——4/15/2016

The Top 3 Reasons How Online Estate Planning Documents Can Devastate Your Family and Leave Them In Financial Ruin – Money Can Be A Curse!!

 

Reason 1: The Pitfalls of Not Getting Legal Advice from an Attorney Can Cause Your Estate Plan to be Defective Because of Wrong Heirs, Wasteful Spending, and Worthless Investments

 

Arguably one of the biggest reasons why online estate planning documents can devastate your family’s estate plan and leave them in financial ruin is because you don’t get legal advice with do-it-yourself documents.  What most people don’t realize is that the value of an estate plan isn’t just in the documents – it’s in the advice and counsel you get from your estate planning lawyer.  An estate planning lawyer can identify issues that are unique to your financial and personal life that will affect your estate plan.  Some of those issues might include: blended families, predeceased beneficiaries, family drug/alcohol problems, problems with the in-laws, careless spending, worthless investments, and Medicaid planning opportunities.  My last blog, Part I of Reason 1, addressed the concerns you might have if the wrong heirs inherited your estate.  This blog will address how your beneficiaries’ wasteful spending and worthless investments can ruin your family.

Continue reading “Top 3-Estate Planning Docs. Can Devastate-Pt. 2” →