estate planning california
Rancho Santa Fe, Palm Springs and Newport Beach Estate Planning Attorney – Estate Taxes and How to Reduce Them
If you really want to reduce estate taxes in California, it doesn’t matter whether you live, Mission Valley, La Jolla, Del Mar, Cardiff, Solana Beach, Carlsbad or San Marcos, for instance in San Diego, CA, or Newport Beach, Huntington Beach, Newport Coast, Crystal Cove, Laguna Beach, Irvine, Anaheim Hills, Yorba Linda or Corona del Mar as an example in Orange County, California, Rancho Cucamonga or Ontario in the Inland Empire, or even in Palm Springs, Palm Desert, Rancho Mirage, or La Quinta in the Coachella Valley. Trusts are a useful tool for estate planning lawyers to reduce probate expenses and estate taxes for individuals anywhere in California or the U.S. as long as you have a sizeable estate.
The current estate tax in 2008 affects only people who die with an estate in excess of two million dollars. In 2009, that amount will increase to three and a half million dollars and in 2010, the estate tax is repealed. That’s the good news.
If, however, the estate tax repeal is not extended by 2011, the estate tax will kick in again. The worse news is that in 2011, if the estate tax repeal is not extended, the estate tax will kick in at one million dollars. The current federal estate tax rate is a whopping 47 percent. That stays the same in 2009 but is repealed in 2010.
For married couples, it’s when the second spouse dies, that estate tax can be a problem. When the first spouse dies the property passes to the surviving spouse tax free. Not so, when the second spouse dies.
One of the most important changes in estate planning is what happens to the basis of inherited property. Currently, when you inherit property, your tax basis when you sell that property is the market value of the property on the former owner’s death. The basis for that property is thus stepped-up to the value on the former owner’s death as opposed to the value of the property when the former owner bought the property.
This rule will also end in 2010. From then on, if you inherit property, you can use the stepped-up basis only for the first 1.3 million worth of the property. For any excess value, the basis will be the former owner’s basis or the value on that person’s death, whichever is smaller. Thus, there will need to be estate planning on which assets to take this stepped-up basis.
If you have an estate in excess of $2 million, one of the best ways to avoid estate tax is to give some of your property away now. You can make gifts of $12,000 yearly to any individual you choose, and to as many individuals as you choose. Couples can give twice that amount yearly to any individual. Any gifts you give to your spouse, so long as he or she is an American citizen, are tax-free. If your spouse is not an American citizen, the current tax-free amount on gifts is $12,000. Annual gifts are based on a calendar year.
Estate planning is exactly what the name says, a way to plan your estate so you can cut your estate taxes. However, to make the right moves you have to keep up on the changes in the law, which an estate planning attorney is able to do.
If you have a trust, will, or estate planning issue in San Diego, Newport Beach, Irvine, Orange County, La Jolla, in the Inland Empire, Los Angeles, Palm Springs or anywhere in Southern California, we have the knowledge and resources to be your Palm Springs Estate Planning Lawyer and your Newport Beach Trust Attorney. Be sure to hire a California law firm with estate planning and trust law experience who can serve areas such as Los Angeles, Palm Springs, Palm Desert, Anaheim, Irvine, Beverly Hills, Malibu, Newport Beach, Beverly Hills, Carlsbad, Corona del Mar, Laguna Beach, Huntington Beach, Santa Ana, Rancho Cucamonga, Ontario, Fullerton, Del Mar, San Diego, Orange County, San Luis Obispo, Buena Park, La Jolla, Oxnard, Ventura, La Quinta, and Santa Barbara so you are properly represented and get the compensation you deserve.
If you have a trust, will, or estate planning issue of any kind, call the Law Offices of R. Sebastian Gibson, or visit our website at http://www.sebastiangibsonlaw.com and learn how we can assist you.
About the Author
The Sebastian Gibson Law Firm serves all of San Diego, Orange County, Palm Springs and Palm Desert, the Coastal Cities from La Jolla, Carlsbad and Del Mar to Laguna Beach, Newport Beach, Irvine, Santa Ana and up to Ventura, Oxnard, Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo. We also serve the Inland Empire cities of Ontario, Rancho Cucamonga, Temecula, Riverside and San Bernardino and all the cities in the Coachella Valley and high desert, from La Quinta, Indio, and Coachella to Yucca Valley and Victorville.
Visit our website at http://www.sebastiangibsonlaw.com if you have a trust, will, or estate planning issue of any kind. We have the knowledge and resources to represent you as your Rancho Santa Fe Estate Planning Lawyer and La Jolla Trust Attorney or your attorney in and around the cities of Palm Springs, Palm Desert, San Diego, Orange County, Corona del Mar, Newport Beach, Malibu, Beverly Hills, Pacific Palisades, Santa Ana, Laguna Beach, Anaheim, Riverside, Chula Vista, Irvine, San Bernardino, Huntington Beach, Fontana, Moreno Valley, Oceanside, La Jolla, Del Mar, San Marcos, Rancho Cucamonga, Ontario, Garden Grove, Palmdale, Long Beach, Corona, Yorba Linda, Escondido, Orange, Fullerton, Costa Mesa, Victorville, Carlsbad, Temecula, Murrieta, Mission Viejo, El Cajon, Vista, Westminster, Santa Monica, Malibu, Westwood, Hesperia, Buena Park, Indio, Coachella, Del Mar, Oxnard, Ventura, San Luis Obispo, Cambria and Santa Barbara.
Has anyone taken real estate classes in a community college?
I am planning to get my California Real Estate License by taking the required classes in a community college. Do they really focus on what will be on the test like a private real estate class would? Do you recommend I take this class?
I took my CA real estate class through Allied Business Schools (at home-online) and I was VERY happy with them. My mother-in-law took a class through the Comm. college here during the same time and seemed to have gotten just as much as I did from the class. So, if going to a comm college works for you better than at home study, I would say that it is equal =)
The 5 Aspects of California Estate Planning
One store moving, one store closing
The moves of two national retailers are shaking up both sides of town. Early this month, Borders Group Inc. announced it will close its bookstore in Wareham Crossing on Route 28 in West Wareham, leaving a 25,000-square-foot vacancy in a shopping plaza that opened less than four years ago.