You have to be careful about believing everything that you hear, and this is especially true when it comes to matters of estate and financial planning.

There are some urban myths circulating out there, and if you buy into them you could wind up failing to take the appropriate actions. This could ultimately lead to asset erosion as your resources are being passed along to your loved ones someday.

The misguided notion that we would like to highlight here is the assertion that the federal estate tax is only applicable to wealthy Americans. If you fail to plan ahead for the possibility of estate tax exposure based on this belief your family may be in for a rude awakening.

In fact, you do not have to be extraordinarily wealthy to be in the cross hairs of the tax man. A limited quantity of resources can be passed on to your heirs after you die in a tax-free manner. This exemption amount changes all the time. Right now it is $5.12 million and you don’t have to be a Wall Street CEO to accumulate resources in this neighborhood.

However, this relatively modest figure is going to be reduced to just $1 million in the beginning of 2013. And at that time the rate of the estate tax is scheduled to rise from the 35% that is presently holding sway all the way up to 55%.

As you can see, when you look under the surface the estate tax is not exclusively reserved for the very rich. If you would like to take steps to prevent asset erosion given the realities of the estate tax, take action right now to arrange for a consultation with a good South Carolina estate planning lawyer.

Kuhn & Kuhn Law Firm is a member of the American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys.

If you go forward without professional guidance you can wind up making some costly decisions. Making assumptions without the appropriate background information can often lead to negative outcomes, and this is something to keep in mind when you decide that you would like to give gifts to your loved ones.

Some of these assumptions may be based on totally logical grounds, but logic doesn’t always hold sway when it comes to the powers that be. For example, let’s say that you win a lottery or otherwise enjoy some sort of financial windfall and you want to share some of the wealth with your children.

The influx of income is going to be subject to taxation. So if you win the lottery the income will be taxed rather heavily by both the federal government and the state of South Carolina. You may be left holding perhaps $.65 or $.70 of every dollar that you won.

Since you paid such high taxes on the winnings you may make the totally rational assumption that you can give any portion of this remainder to anybody that you want to without paying more taxes.

Unfortunately, this is not the case. Gifts that you give would be subject to the federal gift tax, and right now it carries a 35% rate; next year this rate rises to 55% if the laws stay the same as they are right now.

There are however ways to arrange for the transfer of your assets to your loved ones in a tax efficient manner if you take the appropriate legal steps. So the key is to be patient, talk things over with a good South Carolina estate planning lawyer, and ultimately act in a measured and informed manner.

Kuhn & Kuhn Law Firm is a member of the American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys.

When you contemplate the implications of your mortality you may ask yourself how you could give something back to the world as a whole as a parting gift. There are those who engage in philanthropic efforts to this end, and you can discuss ways to weave charitable giving into your legacy plan with your estate planning lawyer.

Another thing to consider would be to become a tissue, eye, and/or organ donor. Medical science is capable of doing some amazing things these days, and transplants are saving lives. Of course, organs are necessary to make transplants possible and donors are always going to be needed. In fact, people die every day who are on transplant lists because of a shortage of available organ donors.

And in addition to transplants, the medical community can sometimes utilize donations to further the cause of medical science and this too can wind up saving lives eventually.

With a living will you state whether or not you would want to be kept alive via the use of artificial measures should you be in an irreversible, terminal condition and unable to communicate. You could add your wishes with regard to your desire to become an organ donor as part of your living will.

Another thing that you may want to consider would be to add your name to the organ donor registry, and you can do so by following this link: South Carolina Organ Donor Registry.

To learn more about how you may be able to make a lasting mark in the broader community, make an appointment to discuss the possibilities with a licensed and experienced South Carolina estate planning lawyer.

Kuhn & Kuhn Law Firm is a member of the American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys.

If you want to get the maximum amount of money into the hands of your loved ones after you pass away,  you need to consider the asset erosion that can take place during the probate process.

Your estate is going to have to be probated if you use a last will to direct the distribution of your resources to your heirs. Probate provides an opportunity for disgruntled parties to challenge your wishes, and it is also set up to allow for creditors and claimants to step forward seeking satisfaction.

In addition to this, your executor is going to have to inventory and subsequently prepare your assets for distribution to the heirs during probate. There are legal intricacies involved so a probate lawyer is going to be necessary. The probate court is going to impose court costs. An accountant may well be necessary to pay final taxes. Appraisers may be called upon, and an estate liquidation company is often brought in.

All the above can add up considerably. It is not entirely uncommon for probate expenses to reduce the overall value of an estate by as much as 10%, and perhaps even more in complicated case.

Avoiding probate expenses is one of the motivations that people have for using an alternative vehicle of asset transfer such as a revocable living trust. Should you be interested in exploring this option, don’t hesitate to pick up the phone right now to arrange for a consultation with a good Charleston SC probate lawyer.

Kuhn & Kuhn Law Firm is a member of the American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys.

If you are experiencing some types of symptoms that indicate a health challenge you are not going to be well served by making your own diagnosis. You could have some layman’s hypothesis about what you may have, and you may get advice from people that you know.

However, if you act without professional guidance you could well make a mistake that makes matters worse or create a problem that didn’t previously exist.

The above is something that you can apply to financial planning as well. If you get ideas in your head with regard to how you should proceed without any expert advice from a licensed professional you may wind up placing yourself and/or your family in a difficult position at some point in time.

For example, let’s say that you recognize that you have more than ample resources to last you for the rest of your life. For the purposes of this hypothetical example you decide to give gifts to your loved ones and send out a bunch of large checks.

This would seem on the surface to be a totally positive act of generosity engaged in for the well-being of those that you love. How could there be any negatives involved?

Many would say that there should be no penalties imposed when you want to give gifts to your loved ones, but the tax man has a different idea. There is a gift tax in place that carries the same rate as the estate tax; right now that rate is 35%, but it is scheduled to rise to 55% next year (no, that is not a typographical error).

The point is that you would do well to talk things over with a professional before you engage in actions that could have serious tax consequences. If you would like to do just that, simply take a moment to arrange for an informative, personalized consultation with a good South Carolina estate planning lawyer.

Kuhn & Kuhn Law Firm is a member of the American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys.

Your legacy will be left behind when you are no longer around, and there are those who don’t give it a whole lot of thought. They simply go about their business without much concern about what they will be leaving behind after they pass away.

You may have seen bumper stickers that say something to the effect of  “We are spending our children’s inheritances.” This is the type of attitude that we are referring to and if this is your strategy it is certainly your right to spend your money as you see fit.

However, some people look at the matter differently. They do in fact want to take care of their children and grandchildren and perhaps provide something to charitable causes as a final act of giving. If you feel as though you have specific legacy goals, it is important to identify these objectives early on and act in a way that allows your vision to come to fruition.

Your goals for tomorrow are going to impact your decision-making today. Budgeting and investing with the future well-being of your family in mind is the key to being able to reach these goals and pass along a suitable legacy.

It is understandable that not everyone is a financial planning expert and you may not know where to begin. Should you feel this way, the intelligent first step is to reach out and make an appointment with a good South Carolina estate planning lawyer. He or she will listen attentively as you explain your objectives, analyze your financial situation, and make the appropriate recommendations.

Kuhn & Kuhn Law Firm is a member of the American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys.

The federal estate tax is much maligned in some quarters because when you go looking for logic to support the tax you tend to come up empty. As a result, many people feel as though they are being asked to part with hard-earned money that would otherwise have gone to their loved ones unfairly.

Some individuals call the estate tax the death tax, and though proponents of the tax feel as though this is a sarcastic and dismissive distortion of the levy there is literal truth in this designation.

Let’s say that you earmark a certain percentage of every paycheck that you earn as your savings. This check that you get is not your entire pay. A large percentage of your gross earnings was removed to pay income tax and payroll tax. So the money that you save is coming out of whatever you have left over after you paid your taxes.

Your savings can sit in the bank for as long as you live without being taxed any further. And of course this is as it should be. However, when you pass away the taxable portion of these funds is subject to the estate tax, a levy that was triggered by the event of your death.

Those who would say that there is no logical foundation for a death tax make a pretty good point. But the fact of the matter is that the tax exists, and if you are exposed it is poised to consume a significant percentage of your legacy.

Strategies do however exist that can reduce or even eliminate your estate tax liability under some circumstances. If you would like to discuss them with an expert, take action right now to arrange for a consultation with a good SC estate planning lawyer.

Kuhn & Kuhn Law Firm is a member of the American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys.

Different people have their own respective strengths and weaknesses and the truth is that not everyone is especially adept at handling their finances.

This can be something that enters your mind when you are engaged in inheritance planning. It is possible that you have someone on your list who could be considered to be a spendthrift. You may be concerned about the possibility of this individual spending his or her inheritance too quickly.

One course of action that you could take should you have these types of reservations would be to make this heir the beneficiary of a spendthrift trust. With these trusts the assets are protected from the creditors of the beneficiary and this is one advantage.

In addition, the assets that have been placed into the trust are handled by a trustee rather than the beneficiary. This trustee can be a financial services entity such as the trust department of a bank. In this manner you can be certain that the resources are being administered professionally.

Distributions will be made to the beneficiary by the trustee in accordance with your wishes as stated in the trust agreement. Presumably they would be judiciously spread out so that the beneficiary is provided with a financial underpinning for the long haul.

If you would like to explore the possibility of creating a spendthrift trust for the benefit of someone that you love, simply take a moment to pick up the phone to arrange for a consultation with a good South Carolina estate planning lawyer.

Kuhn & Kuhn Law Firm is a member of the American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys.

South Carolina estate planning lawyers are always going to point out the fact that it is important for people of all ages to have an estate plan in place.

There are those who know that they should execute the appropriate estate planning documents who fail to act because they feel as though they are not going to be passing away anytime soon. The truth is that no invitations are going to be sent out by the Grim Reaper as it were, and if you are paying attention you will see that people of all ages pass away every day.

As a case in point, look no further than the recent death of the singer Whitney Houston. She passed away in Southern California at the age of 48, and of course she will be sorely missed by her fans and the entertainment community as a whole.

Though the precise details of the way that Whitney Houston planned her estate are not available at the present time, she had one daughter named Bobbi and observers believe that she will be the primary heir to the Houston fortune.

Whitney Houston was extremely popular at one point, so she was financially successful but her legacy is going to be growing by leaps and bounds.

The public becomes very interested in the work of artists who pass away, and there has already been a rush to purchase Whitney Houston’s music once again. Analysts anticipate the value of the Houston estate to skyrocket in the coming months as has been the case with others such as Michael Jackson.

The lesson to be learned from this is that you never know what the future holds and if you go through life without an estate plan you are putting your family members at risk.

Kuhn & Kuhn Law Firm is a member of the American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys.

As you are looking forward to the future it is important to have a good understanding of what you can expect from Social Security. If you want to be able to retire in true comfort you don’t want to rely too heavily on Social Security, but if you are like most people it is certainly going to represent a significant portion of your retirement income.

The first question that many individuals have about Social Security involves when they will become eligible to receive their full benefits. There is no one answer because your age of eligibility depends on the year during which you were born. For people born in 1954 and earlier who are not yet receiving Social Security full retirement age is 66. For individuals born in 1960 and after the full retirement age is 67.

For those born between 1955 and 1959 full retirement age is somewhere between 66 and 67. It goes up from 66 by two months per year. So if you were born in 1955 your full retirement age is 66 years and two months; if you were born in 1956 your full retirement age is 66 years and four months, and so on until 1960 when it becomes 67.

As for the amount of your benefit, that is going to vary depending on how much you paid into the program over the years. There is a maximum at the present time of $38,880 per year. However, the average Social Security payout is under $1100 per month and this underscores why it is so important to plan ahead in advance and not be too reliant on Social Security.

Comprehensive long-term financial planning is the key to a comfortable future. If you do not currently have a plan in place, right now would be a good time to take action to arrange for a consultation with a good SC estate planning lawyer.

Kuhn & Kuhn Law Firm is a member of the American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys.