As a result, his family will presumably be receiving a large inheritances; but they will also be facing enormous tax bills.

The estate tax exclusion in 2012 is $5.12 million and the maximum rate of the tax is 35%. This means that only the first $5.12 million of Dick Clark’s estate can pass to his heirs free of the estate tax. Everything else is subject to a 35% federal levy.

Let’s say that the taxable portion of the Dick Clark estate wound up being $500 million. 35% of this is $175 million. This would seem excessive to many individuals, and remember, Clark paid taxes throughout his life on his earnings. So a lot of people would argue that he already paid more than his fair share of taxes and the event of his death should not be a taxable one.

Your family may not be faced with this level of tax responsibility, but they may well be presented with a hefty bill upon your passing if you don’t take the proper steps to gain tax efficiency. To examine your position in relationship to the estate tax, simply take a moment to arrange for a consultation with a licensed and experienced San Bernardino estate planning lawyer.

For one thing, you really don’t know when you will pass away. Yes, there are average life expectancies and they are useful to consider. But in the end fate holds our destinies in its hands, and when you go through life without an estate plan it is your loved ones who are being placed in a precarious situation.

Another reason why it is a good idea to put an estate plan in place well in advance of your senior years is because of the fact that asset protection may be necessary. You may be in a line of work that leaves you open to the possibility of claimants or creditors stepping forward seeking satisfaction.

It is important to separate your personal assets from business holdings, and this must be done well before any actions are undertaken by entities seeking redress. If you try to reposition assets after you gain knowledge of such actions you could be cited for an improper transfer of assets compounding an already difficult situation.

Asset protection is an important component to a comprehensive plan for the future. If you would like to discuss the matter with an expert, simply take a moment to arrange for a consultation with a licensed and experienced San Bernardino estate planning attorney.

However, depending on how old you are and whether or not you are a man or a woman your expected lifespan can vary considerably. As you get older it becomes more likely that you will live beyond this average of 78 years, and women on average live longer than men.

To find out exactly where you stand at any given time you can use the life expectancy calculator tool that is available on the Social Security Administration website.

Your longevity is going to dictate your financial need as you are planning for retirement, and it is also useful when you are deciding when to apply for Social Security. You can apply when you are as young as 62 but you would receive a reduced benefit. However, you would receive your benefit for a longer period of time so your anticipated lifespan is a relevant factor to take into consideration.

The reality is that averages are just that; we never know with any certainty when that fateful time will arrive. But at the same time these averages will provide you with a basic framework to draw from as you are making plans for the future.

If you would like to discuss a holistic plan for aging with an expert, don’t hesitate to pick up the phone to arrange for a consultation with a licensed, experienced, and savvy Redlands CA retirement planning lawyer.

Alzheimer’s disease strikes somewhere in the vicinity of one out of every eight individuals who reach the age of 65. As you would expect, the likelihood of contracting Alzheimer’s increases as you get older. It is estimated that about 40% of people who are among the “oldest old” (those 85 years old and up) are victims of Alzheimer’s-induced dementia.

If you are suffering from dementia you may not be able to make sounds personal, financial, and medical decisions. Should interested parties recognize a loss of faculties a guardianship proceeding could be convened and it is possible that you could become a ward of the state.

This can be avoided by taking the proper steps in advance to protect yourself should this contingency arise. If you use a revocable living trust to transfer your assets you could add a disability trustee who would handle things in the event of your incapacity in accordance with your wishes.

Durable powers of attorney are also utilized as a way to appoint people of your own choosing to make decisions in your behalf should you become unable to make them for yourself rather than allowing the court to control your fate.

If you can see why it is important to take steps to protect yourself, take action right now to arrange for a consultation with a licensed and experienced San Bernardino estate planning lawyer.

Now it has turned out that seven of the 12 children have in fact attempted to renegotiate copyrights to 51 of the songs that Ray Charles published during his long and illustrious career. They are being sued by the Ray Charles Foundation, the charitable body that was created by Charles to benefit young people and individuals with hearing disorders.

The foundation states that the Charles children have no legal rights to the songs and that their attempts to seize ownership inherently reduce the value of the copyrights. This is the foundation of their lawsuit, which is seeking $500,000 from each of the children.

When you see how people can emerge years after your death seeking to rearrange the playing field you can understand why careful estate planning is extremely important. Your wishes should be etched in stone and there should be no questions with regard to how you wanted your resources utilized.

Should you be interested in devising an ironclad estate plan with the benefit of expert advice, simply take a moment to arrange for an informative consultation with a licensed, experienced, and savvy Loma Linda CA estate planning lawyer.

But these taxes on asset transfers are not something that you are faced with every day or every year so you may not know much about them. However, if you act without the proper information you could wind up making a costly error.

Let’s take a look at the gift tax specifically. If you give gifts to your loved ones they are taxable if they exceed a certain amount. The lifetime gift tax exemption is unified with the estate tax exclusion. Right now that number is $5.12 million, but it is going to be reduced to $1 million in 2013 if the laws stay the same as they are right now.

So, you have to take pause and consider the tax implications if you decide to give gifts to your loved ones while you are still alive. You can use your unified lifetime exemption, but your available estate tax exclusion will be reduced by the amount of your gifts.

The solution is to seek professional counsel before making significant financial gifts to family members. To get all the details, don’t hesitate to make an appointment to speak with a good Redlands CA estate planning lawyer who has a thorough understanding of the current tax code.

You will probably recall that Winehouse passed away in the summer of 2011 at the tender age of 27. Though her personal problems were well documented she was indeed a talented performer by all accounts and she is missed.

Early reports coming out of the United Kingdom stated that Amy Winehouse did in fact have an estate plan in place, but official probate records have now been made available. These earlier speculations have proven to be false. In fact, Winehouse died without a last will.

In cases such as these the deceased individual’s closest relative becomes the heir to the estate according to intestacy rules of succession. Since Winehouse had no children and was divorced from her former husband Blake Fielder-Civil her parents became the heirs to her estate, which was valued at $4.66 million after expenses according to the article published on the Forbes website.

Nobody is ever going to know if Amy Winehouse did in fact want her parents to be the sole heirs to her estate. And, though we don’t have the details to draw from it is quite possible that her legacy could have been more robust had she taken steps to preserve her wealth.

Clearly, estate planning is important for people of all ages. If you are currently unprotected right now would be a good time to sit down and express your wishes in a legally binding manner with the assistance of a good Redlands CA estate planning lawyer.

The same thing is true of estate planning. Depending on the dynamic of your family and the exact nature of your wishes any number of approaches may be appropriate.

For example, a lot of marriages end in divorce during our current era and most people who get divorced remarry someday. Blended families result when the people entering the marriage have children from previous marriages.

This can present a particular estate planning scenario. You probably want to make sure that your children are provided for regardless of what the future holds. And at the same time, you are going to want to make provisions for your new spouse without necessarily handing over control of who inherits the remaining assets after he or she passes away.

Situations such as these require a particular brand of advanced estate planning, and inheritance planning lawyers will often recommend qualified terminable interest property trusts as a blended family solution.

This is just one example, but any number of scenarios can exist depending on the unique makeup of your family. You need an estate plan that is tailor-made for your specific situation, and the only way to put such a plan in place is to engage the expertise of a licensed, experienced and savvy San Bernardino CA estate planning lawyer.

Your unique personal situation is going to have a lot to do with how you should proceed. For example, someone who is in possession of resources that exceed the estate tax exclusion amount is going to have different objectives than someone whose resources fall within the exemption amount.

If you are divorced and remarried and you have children from a previous marriage you face a different situation than someone who has never been divorced. Single parents have concerns that some other people may not. If you have a person in the family who has a disability this may require estate planning steps that would not be taken otherwise.

People who are in the military or those who formerly served in the military may have to go about things differently than civilians.

The typical layperson is not going to know the best way to proceed given his or her specific situation. This is where professional guidance comes in. If you would like to explore your options with regard to making preparations for the inevitable, take action right now to arrange for a consultation with a good San Bernardino estate planning lawyer.

This is one way to go about things, but if you look at the statistics you know that people of all ages pass away each and every day. And contrary to the point of view of some individuals, it could be argued that estate planning is more important for younger adults than it is for elders.

Once you reach your 60s and 70s your children are (in the vast majority of cases) going to be independent, self-supporting adults. Whatever you may be able to do for them is great but it is probably not absolutely necessary for their survival.

On the other hand, younger adults are often times going to have minor children who are dependent on their parents. If you make no provisions for the possibility of passing away before your time, where will that leave your children and your spouse?

Who would care for your children if both parents were to pass away at the same time in an accident of some sort? If you are a single parent, the matter is even more pressing.

Clearly, estate planning for people with minor children is extremely important. If you are presently unprepared, right now would be a good time to take action and arrange for a consultation with a licensed and experienced Redlands CA estate planning lawyer.