Trusts for Long Term Incapacity Planning

At the end of 2017 the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act was enacted. One major change that resulted from the act was an increase in the life time exclusion amount. The new lifetime exclusion amount is over 11 million dollars. A lot of people speculate that with the new exclusion amount, it is no longer practical to have a trust. That’s simply not true. A Trust is the best long-term plan for incapacity, probate avoidance and privacy retention.

One out of every six people will be incapacitated at some point in their lives. Banks and other financial institutions are becoming more and more reluctant to honor Power of Attorney forms that are more than five years old. Trusts do not age or expire, therefore a properly funded trust acts as long term incapacity planning.

Wills must be probated in NM in order to be effective. A Probate administration is a legal proceeding, which typically takes between six to twelve months, costs between three and five thousand dollars and makes the details of the estate including beneficiary names and distribution amounts public record.

If your rationale for not setting up an estate plan is based upon newly increased lifetime exemption amount, you should consider calling Swaim & Carlow to set up a free no obligation consultation. Incapacity Planning, Probate Avoidance and Privacy Retention are the key principals to any estate plan.