document.write('<p><b><font class="heading">Top 10 Estate Planning Mistakes</font></b></p><p><font class="text">Smart people who\'ve wo');
document.write('rked hard all of their lives to achieve financial success often make dumb estate planning mistakes. Those mistakes can r');
document.write('esult in their families losing over half of their assets when they pass between generations. They can destroy much of a ');
document.write('lifetime\'s work. And they can inflict a great deal of pain and heartache to the people they love.</p><p>The irony is t');
document.write('hat most of the mistakes are easily avoided. With a little forethought, people of average intellect can construct estate');
document.write(' plans which perpetuate their estates for generations. To do that, you and they have to avoid these traps:</p><ol>');
document.write('<li><p>Procrastination</p></li><li><p>The &quot;I love you&quot; Will</p></li><li><p>Unbalanced Property Ownership</p></li><li><p>Property Transfers Based on Non-Will Provisions</p></li><li><p>Improperly-Owned Life Insurance</p></li><li><p>Trying to Take it with Them</p></li><li><p>Lack of Liquidity</p></li><li><p>Equal Distribution to Heirs</p></li><li><p>Saddling Children with Debt</p></li>');
document.write('<li><p>&quot;It\'s all been taken care of . . .&quot;</p></li></ol><p>');
document.write('&nbsp;<br><b>1. Procrastination</b></p><p>Everybody has an estate plan. If you don\'t create one, on purpose, through c');
document.write('arefully drafted wills, trusts and other documents, then your state legislature will step in with a plan of its own. Thi');
document.write('s plan, called the laws of intestacy, dictates who will get your assets, how they will get them and guarantees that your');
document.write(' estate will pay the highest possible estate taxes in the process.</p><p>If you\'re happy with your state legislature d');
document.write('eciding who will receive your assets after you\'re gone . . . and especially if you want to pay the federal government th');
document.write('e maximum estate taxes, then no additional work on your part is required. But if you\'re not, then you have to develop es');
document.write('tate plans of your own and they have to be developed now.</p><p>&nbsp;<br><b>2. The &quot;I love you&quot; will</b></p');
document.write('><p>Most people have very simple wills. They say that when one spouse dies, all of his/her property goes to the surviv');
document.write('ing spouse and, when they\'re both gone, all of the property goes to their children. Very straight forward. And, for peop');
document.write('le with modest estates, these wills work fine.</p><p>For people with estates which exceed $3,000,000, however, these w');
document.write('ills create thousands of dollars of unnecessary taxes. These simple wills waste an opportunity to keep up to $1,500,000 ');
document.write('of assets free of estate taxes. On a modest $3,000,000 estate, this single error can cost $600,000.</p><p>The solution');
document.write(' is to have provisions in your wills or living trust agreements which create a bypass trust (also known as a credit-shel');
document.write('ter trust) at the death of the first spouse.</p><p>&nbsp;<br><b>3. Unbalanced property ownership</b></p><p>If each s');
document.write('pouse owns substantially equal property, then bypass trusts can function neatly to avoid estate taxes on up to $1,500,000 ');
document.write('of assets. However, if one spouse owns millions and the other spouse has only a small estate, the bypass trust\'s effect ');
document.write('will be largely wasted if the less affluent spouse dies first. To avoid that, spouses should consider the benefits of ba');
document.write('lancing their property ownerships.</p><p>&nbsp;<br><b>4. Property transfers based on non-will provisions</b></p><p>M');
document.write('ost people think that their wills control who will get what when they die. Surprisingly, many assets are transferred bas');
document.write('ed on provisions which can contradict but supersede those of a will.</p><p>Bank accounts, certificates of deposit, ret');
document.write('irement plans, IRAs, annuities, life insurance policies, real estate and countless other assets are often not controlled');
document.write(' by wills. In the case of jointly-owned assets - bank accounts, stock accounts and real estate are often owned this way ');
document.write('- the surviving joint owner often becomes the sole owner of the assets. And retirement plans, IRAs, annuities and life i');
document.write('nsurance proceeds transfer to named beneficiaries, not necessarily to the people named in a will.</p><p>Property owner');
document.write('ship forms and beneficiary designations need to be coordinated with your will planning. If they aren\'t, your carefully d');
document.write('rawn will can become meaningless and the estate tax savings which it tried to create will be defeated.</p><p>&nbsp;<br');
document.write('><b>5. Improperly-owned life insurance</b></p><p>Life insurance is often a significant part of many affluent estates. ');
document.write('Many people own life insurance because of the immediate liquidity it will provide and because they understand that life ');
document.write('insurance death benefits are tax free. They\'re only half right.</p><p>Life insurance death benefits are not subject to');
document.write(' income tax. However, they are subject to estate taxes if the policies are owned by the insured at his/her death. This c');
document.write('an destroy up to 60% of the policies\' values.</p><p>A very wise way to avoid this is to have life insurance owned by a');
document.write('n irrevocable trust. While the needs of the surviving spouse need to be addressed, life insurance which is intended to p');
document.write('ass to future generations should clearly not be owned by the insured\'s.</p><p>&nbsp;<br><b>6. Trying to take it with t');
document.write('hem</b></p><p>There are only three ways to reduce estate taxes: spend the money, have a bypass trust and give it away ');
document.write('while alive.</p><p>Affluent people, especially the self-made variety, often do a very poor job of either spending it o');
document.write('r giving it away. They got where they are, financially, by being &quot;accumulators&quot; and they have a hard time with');
document.write(' not continuing that lifetime habit.</p><p>While thrift is an admirable quality, too much of this good thing plays rig');
document.write('ht into the IRS\' hands. They and Congress want you to have the biggest estate possible when you die.</p><p>They want y');
document.write('our ignorance, procrastination and paranoia to stop you from taking advantage of a whole range of laws which can result ');
document.write('in your estate paying zero taxes while you maintain your financial independence forever. The IRS collects millions and m');
document.write('illions of estate taxes every year which could have been legally avoided from the estates of people who never quit being');
document.write(' &quot;accumulators&quot;.</p><p>&nbsp;<br><b>7. Lack of liquidity</b></p><p>Many affluent people create estates of ');
document.write('great value which, at death, are very illiquid. Holdings of real estate and family businesses often represent 90% or mor');
document.write('e of affluent estates. But, if those estates are subject to taxes of over 50%, those assets often have to be sold at fir');
document.write('e-sale prices to pay them. Estate taxes are generally due within nine months of death.</p><p>Forcing your family to ch');
document.write('oose between sacrificing a treasured asset or taking on an enormous burden of debt to pay estate taxes is simply stupid.');
document.write(' It is also totally avoidable.</p><p>&nbsp;<br><b>8. Equal distribution to heirs</b></p><p>Most people have great lo');
document.write('ve for all of their children and they want them to share equally in their estates. An admirable intent, but &quot;equal&');
document.write('quot; is not the same thing as &quot;equitable&quot;.</p><p>While dozens of examples exist, a common problem, often mi');
document.write('shandled, is when a person owns a business in which some of the children participate. Giving both participating and non-');
document.write('participating children equal shares of the business is a near guarantee for disaster. This blunder has destroyed more bu');
document.write('sinesses and families than probably any other estate planning mistake.</p><p>If you have a business, a farm or some ot');
document.write('her income-producing asset and some of your children participate in its management, don\'t carve it up equally between al');
document.write('l of your children. Provide the business to your participating children and give your non-participant children non-busin');
document.write('ess assets. If this creates an unbalanced distribution, consider creating additional assets through life insurance.</p>');
document.write('<p>&nbsp;<br><b>9. Saddling children with debt</b></p><p>The same kind of people who would blanch at a $500 MasterCar');
document.write('d bill often leave their children with a range of estate problems that can only be solved by millions of dollars of new ');
document.write('debt.</p><p>Illiquid but substantial estates often have to borrow great amounts of money to pay estate taxes. Those bo');
document.write('rrowings can come from a bank or, in some cases, from the Treasury, but they all require complete repayment of principal');
document.write(' plus substantial interest. Too often, the assets which triggered the tax - and the loan - can\'t generate enough income ');
document.write('to cover it.</p><p>Enormous debts are also created when children who participate in a family business are compelled to');
document.write(' buy-out their non-participating siblings\' interests. This not only creates great financial pressures but the process of');
document.write(' negotiating a buy-out can create much acrimony. Many families have been destroyed by just such a challenge.</p><p>Lif');
document.write('e insurance is frequently the best solution to these financial problems. Too often, however, affluent people and their a');
document.write('dvisors don\'t adequately explore this option because of ignorance and misunderstanding.</p><p>&nbsp;<br><b>10. &quot;I');
document.write('t\'s all been taken care of . . .&quot;</b></p><p>Good estate planning is never truly &quot;done&quot;. As your circums');
document.write('tances change and evolve over the years, your plans need to be kept current and apace with them.</p><p>Few attorneys c');
document.write('all in their clients for an annual estate plan review. Fewer clients sit down, annually, and take stock of their situati');
document.write('on. But if they did - if you do - millions of dollars can be saved and much heart-ache can be avoided.</p><p>&nbsp;<br');
document.write('><b>Conclusion</b></p><p>Most people spend more time arranging a single vacation than they spend on estate planning in');
document.write(' their lifetime. If you\'re affluent, that\'s not smart. It\'s very smart, however, to meet annually with your financial ad');
document.write('visers and ensure that your plans are both current and complete.</p><p>Here\'s a test to see if they are: will your cur');
document.write('rent plans give what you have to whom you want, when you want, in the way you want and do it all at the lowest possible ');
document.write('cost? If you answer &quot;yes&quot;, then congratulations and we\'ll see you next year.</p><p>If not, then make an appo');
document.write('intment now to fix this problem. No one can do it but you and you may have a lot less time to solve it than you think. A');
document.write('nd if you\'re not sure about that, go back and read item number one on this Top 10 list of estate planning mistakes - the');
document.write(' one about procrastination. And then grab the phone.<br>&nbsp;</p>');