Estate planning should be performed to save as much as possible to flow to your family and heirs when they may need it the most. It is your legacy and promise to them.
Many estate plans have two main goals:
- estate tax minimization
- future creditor protections
However, for nearly 98% of all Utahns, they don’t have a care in the world about estate taxes because their estate is below the taxable threshold, which is now up to millions of dollars. Only two percent of Utahns have that size estate. But surprisingly, nearly every estate plan has provisions to avoid estate taxes, whether they are needed or not.
What the rest of the Utahns really need is to protect from major financial problems, such as those caused by major medical expenses, nursing home care, and extreme unexpected costs.
Sometimes, estate tax planning is the wrong direction to go to halt a financial crisis.
Even if you have what you believed was a complete estate plan that suited your needs, you may not have the most important part of all: a “special needs trust.” Most Utah revocable trusts leaves the entire trust to your spouse or next of kin. If that family member were to need expensive nursing home or medical care, even some smaller inheritances can leave your loved one disqualified from Medicaid and they will be forced to spend and lose it before requalifying.
The special needs trust will prevent that from happening because certain amounts put in this trust are not used against them for qualifying for Medicaid qualification if they become disabled after 65 and can be used for other things other than medical care expenses.
These sorts of estate planning techniques are much more needed by the clear majority (a full 98%) of Utah seniors wanting to secure their future.
Attorneys T.R. Spencer Law Office prepares estate plans to take care of the needs of the 98% of Utahns, as well as the other 2%. We will only suggest what you need, when you need it, to protect your specific estate for the future. Call us today to schedule a consultation.