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(Part of a series of articles on charitable giving and the Union County Foundation by David Vollrath - Exec. Dir.) Our last column spoke about the importance of performing a "January checkup" on your income and investments. Today I’d like to encourage you to perform a "January checkup" on your estate plan. At the beginning of every year you should get into the habit of thinking about your estate planning documents. These documents include items such as your will, durable power of attorney for healthcare, a living will or advanced healthcare directive. Many of you might also have living trusts. As part of this yearly checkup make sure these aforementioned documents are organized and placed in a location identified to those that need to know, in case something were to happen to you. Estate planning documents are of little use if no one can find them at the appropriate time of need. Any number of circumstances could result in the need to modify these documents. One of the more common reasons might be that you have moved from one state to another. For many senior citizens Florida, or some other retirement destination has become your primary residence. As you might expect different states may have very different laws. Perhaps during the last year you have received an inheritance from a parent or relative. You may have a new child or grandchild. Maybe a potential heir who previously was not behaving in a responsible manner has now matured and reached some level of reasonable financial maturity. Maybe due to the very good year in the stock market your estate has increased to a level above the base exemption and is now subject to federal estate tax. Any of these circumstances would be reason to sit down with your advisors and review your documents. Most of your estate planning documents can be fairly easily modified by your advisors to reflect your current objectives. Going through this yearly checkup can protect you and your family from unnecessary problems and disagreements resulting from out dated documents. The Union County Foundation is equipped to help you achieve your charitable goals by providing pertinent information and assisting you with planned giving. Please call us at 937-642-9618, email us at commfounduc@imetweb.net, or stop by our Marysville office at 126 N. Main St. We are committed to helping you…. "preserve your footprint in time." |
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