How Can Gift, Estate and Income Tax Planning Benefit My Family?
Although the tax aspects of estate planning are most often associated with affluent families holding assets in excess of the federal estate tax exemption, you don't have to be rich to benefit from careful consideration of the tax consequences of your estate plan. To learn how gift, estate and income tax planning can advance important objectives for you and your family, contact an experienced lawyer at Pirsch & Associates in Alexandria.
We Serve Clients in Northern Virginia, Maryland and Washington, D.C.
Gift, estate and income tax planning often work in conjunction with other estate planning goals: avoiding probate, protecting Medicaid eligibility, providing for the care or education of minors, or maximizing your use of the federal tax exemption by leveraging its use through estate tax planning devices. For affluent families, gift planning and irrevocable trust devices are essential tools for transferring assets out of your estate and insulating them from estate tax liability.
For families of more modest means, a revocable trust supplemented with other devices can maximize the value of federal tax exemptions while protecting your future access to Medicaid benefits.
Trusts and estates attorney Elizabeth Pirsch has helped families solve complex gift and tax planning problems since 1983. With an LL.M in Taxation from Georgetown University, she brings a sophisticated approach to your situation while explaining your options in clear and practical terms.
Your family estate plan might benefit from the use of any of the following instruments and strategies, depending on your specific circumstances:
- Revocable trust
- Irrevocable life insurance trust
- Section 529 tuition savings plan
- Periodic gifts to adult children or into trust for minors during your lifetime
- Special needs trusts to secure the care of vulnerable persons or those with disabilities
- Credit shelter trusts to extend the benefit of the federal tax exemption
- Charitable lead and remainder trusts
- Qualified residence trust
- Qualified annuity trust
Because federal tax laws, IRS regulations and family circumstances change from time to time, it's a good idea to review any estate plan every four or five years to make sure that it still meets your needs and whenever a significant life changing event occurs (i.e. a death, divorce or birth). To learn more about our ability to incorporate gift, tax and special needs planning into your estate plan, contact Pirsch & Associates in Alexandria.
