Estate Plan
Minimize tax burden weighting on your family
Appropriate, timely and update estate planning is critical to the minimization of taxation on death and hence the preservation of family wealth, which may include a family business, real estate and/or liquid securities.
Our approach to estate plan includes three phases:
Design
Generally, we take the following approach to develop an estate plan:
- Prepare a summary of the client’s major assets and liabilities;
- Review the client’s will and determine the family’s personal wishes with respect to the succession of the client’s major assets;
- Evaluate the tax consequences involved in passing the client’s assets in accordance with the family’s personal wishes;
- Determine whether there is a need for insurance and the type of insurance as a planning and investment tool
- Design an estate plan with the aims of fulfilling the family’s personal wishes and minimizing the tax burden on the estate and heirs. The estate plan may involve an estate freeze, a family trust, a charitable gifting program, or a post-mortem plan.
Implementation
We coordinate with the client’s legal counsel to implement the estate plan, including:
- Review of any required legal documents prepared by the legal counsel; and
- Review of revised wills for effective implementation of the estate plan.
Annual Review and Update
We monitor the estate plan year by year and adjust it for changing tax laws, the client’s changing personal, family and financial objectives and circumstances.
