Estate planning involves far more than just avoiding estate taxes. Estate planning is needed while you are alive, not just upon death. It is needed for the young, the elderly, single, and married individuals.
Estate planning allows people, while they are still living, to ensure that their property will be given to the people and charities they want, in the way they want, and when they want. It permits them to save as much as possible on taxes, court costs, and attorneys' fees. It also affords the comfort that their loved ones can mourn their loss without being simultaneously burdened with unnecessary red tape and financial confusion.
An estate plan also allows people to decide who will make medical decisions for them when they are unable to do so and who will handle their finanicial affairs when they are incapacitated. Estate planning allows people, rather than a court, to select who will be the guardian for minor children, the executor of their estate, and the trustee of trusts set up for loved ones.
Postponing the planning may be detrimental. If incapacity or death occurs before a plan is established, the result could be that intended beneficiaries - the ones most loved - may not receive what the decedent wanted them to receive whether due to extra administration costs, unnecessary taxes, intestate succession rules or squabbling among the heirs.
In addition, the estate tax exemption amount is determined by Congress. The current exemption amount is in place through the end of 2012 and can change. No one knows what it will be until Congress passes new legislation. Solid planning provides for flexibility in the event that the law changes and the exemption amount is lowered.
Investors who purchase equity in business ventures can create larger estates
Relative to traditional approaches, this approach enables Daniel, Russell & Charles Co., to add unique value as an investor through:
Superior understanding of our industries for assistance with strategic planning
Broader and deeper networks of industry contacts for assistance with recruitment, marketing, and selling
Better understanding of the institutional investor community for subsequent financings
A longer-term perspective on company development well beyond the PPM.