International Medical Health Organization
January 2009
What is Estate Planning?
Manage your wealth intelligently while leaving your legacy through charitable giving. What? An estate is the total net worth or Save 25% Now! sum of all assets (minus liabilities) of an individual or couple. Upon the death of both spouses, any and all assets constitute your estate.
Why? You may ask yourself, why should I be concerned with estate planning at this point in my life? The answer to this question is that you and your future beneficiaries will be better off now and in the future if you probably manage your wealth. Estate planning also ensures that your estate will never enter probate court.
Probate court is a specialized court that only considers cases that deal with the distribution of a deceased person’s estate. Any individual who has more than $100K in asset value will end up in probate court unless they have created one of the following: 1. Family Living Trust 2. Charitable Private Family Foundation 3. Charitable Remainder Trust and/or other Trust By creating a Family Living Trust and/or Charitable Private Family Foundation you immediately save 25% of your assets by avoiding probate court and legal fees.
When? Do your estate planning now.
Living Wills & Gift Tax Exclusions Living Wills ! A Living Will is not a substitute for a Family Living Trust. ! A Living Will is a complementary document to a Family Living Trust ! A Living Will does NOT avoid probate court
Gift Tax Exclusions A gift has to be given before death by an individual or from their trust. Current gift exclusion rules limit
Giving to $1 million per spouse for 2009 through 2011, only if the gift is given while still living. A gift can be given to multiple people, but the total amount given is limited to $1 million for each spouse.
www.TheIMHO.org
International Medical Health Organization
January 2009
Support IMHO Through Planned Giving Receive tax write-offs for donations to Public Charities or Charitable Private Family Foundations
Estate Tax Exclusions Upon the death of both spouses, the estate will be subject to estate taxes of up to 55% of the total estate value after tax exclusions ($1 million starting in 2011). One of the many tools that is available to reduce estate taxes is through the establishment of a Charitable Private Family Foundation. After the death of the death of the first spouse, you must file the IRS Form 706 within 9 months. All assets will pass through to the surviving spouse without any estate taxes. However, after the death of the second spouse (or in the untimely event that both spouses pass away at the same time), all assets pass through to the beneficiaries of your Family Living Trust. At that point you must file Form 706 with the IRS and pay up to 55% in estate taxes on the value of your estate after all exclusions.
Charitable Family Foundation A Charitable Family Foundation can become the beneficiary of anything in excess of the estate tax exclusion without paying any estate taxes. Your adult children or family members can act as Trustees of the Charitable Family Private Foundation and can distribute annually to the charity(-ies) of your choice. You can also save on tax money during your lifetime, if you transfer assets to your own Charitable Private Family Foundation while you
are living. By doing this you will save on earned income tax dollars (at their current value). Upon death, simply transfer your assets to your own Charitable Private Family Foundation and save on estate tax dollars. In this way, you can save both while you are living and after you have passed.
Public Charities For all donations to a Public Charity, you will receive a tax write-off on your adjusted gross income (AGI) on Line 31 of the IRS Form 1040. You will get a 50% write-off for all cash donations and a 30% write-off for all property donations. For all donations to a Charitable Private Family Foundation, you will also receive a tax write-off on your adjusted gross income (AGI) on Line 31 of the IRS Form 1040. You will get a 30% write-off for all cash donations and a 20% write-off for all appreciated property donations. Given all of this, it makes financial sense to give!
A Mission Fueled by Your Vision Put your charitable vision to work today with current earned income tax dollars. Then continue your charitable mission with estate tax dollars through a Charitable Private Family Foundation. You can make all the difference to those in need‌contact IMHO today to discuss your Planned Giving. Thank you for your support!
www.TheIMHO.org