Planning for the disposition of your assets after your death is an unenjoyable exercise, but one that is essential to ensure that your family members are not burdened with avoidable complications that reduce their ability to enjoy the benefit of these assets. Ensuring that your assets are distributed according to your wishes, including property located in foreign countries, shielding your estate and family members from taxes upon your death, and protecting inheritances left to your family members from their creditors or in the event of divorce are all concerns that you can address with the right tax and estate planning.
At Bellwether , we work directly with you, family members and professional advisors such as investment advisors, accountants and lawyers to ensure that you can tackle these concerns and that your assets are promptly transferred to family members, friends and/or charitable organizations. Planning for the distribution of your assets after death requires first and foremost an evaluation of your assets and of your estate’s exposure to tax on your death.
Inadequate planning can result in a myriad of problems that your family members and friends with which they will have to deal (if possible) including, but not limited to, dying intestate (without a Will), guardianship for minor children, your family members’ inheritances being subject to claims from creditors or matrimonial claims in the event of divorce, triggering capital gains tax on death that can otherwise be deferred, and having conflicting wills in several jurisdictions.