The end of the year, combined with the holidays and seeing family, is as good as a time as ever to review your estate plan or get an estate plan. This week I plan to write about some reminders that you should think about as the end of the year is close in order to ensure that you have a properly written estate plan that actually reflects your intentions.
Take some time to read your revocable living trust
Over the last several years there have been a number of changes to the laws of estate taxes that may affect your revocable living trust. Prior to 2013, many trusts were “AB Trusts” that attempted to minimize the amount of estate taxes that would have to be paid. Now, with an estate tax exemption of $5.34 million in 2014 and $5.42 million in 2015 many estates will not even be close to paying estate taxes. It is also important to note that married couples get double the exemption because each spouse receives the exemption.
There are number of reasons why you may still want AB Trusts since each situation is different. However, if you have not reviewed your estate plan in several years, it may be time to review it to ensure it still complies with the current tax environment.
