Estate Planning
Estate and charitable giving planning
Estate and charitable giving planning are intricately intertwined in that they both address how your assets will be distributed. The highest priorities of most people often include providing for their families and supporting charitable causes they believe in. Prudent estate and charitable giving plans can help you accomplish both.
Creating an estate plan
Estate planning is essential for distributing your wealth in life and after death. It allows you to preserve your family values and ensure that your assets benefit the people and charitable causes in accordance with your wishes. Estate planning provides certainty and control over all you’ve worked for and accumulated during your lifetime.
Estate planning is the foundation of financial planning
The culture of Raymond James embraces estate planning as an essential component of a comprehensive financial plan and the foundation of financial planning. When stock brokerages solely focused on selling stocks during the 1960s, founder Bob James made sure his clients understood the importance of preserving their wealth, assets and investments for their loved ones.
What is a trust?
A trust is a legal entity to facilitate wealth transfer and preservation. It is a legal agreement between two parties, the person who creates the trust and the trustee (the person, institution or independent trust company responsible for administering the trust.) The trustee manages the assets placed in the trust for the benefit of a third party, the beneficiary. Typically, trusts are drafted by attorneys.
Unlike wills, trusts are not subject to probate and therefore enable you to keep your affairs private and minimize settlement costs and estate taxes.
Why you may need a trust
Trusts are ideal for all asset levels and offer a number of benefits. You can control what happens to your estate, regardless of its size; possibly reduce estate taxes; and potentially avoid complications in probate, a lengthy and expensive process that can take six months to two years or longer.
But saving on taxes isn’t the only reason for trusts. Some families want to plan for long-term care or education for their children or grandchildren. Others want to provide for a favorite charity. One thing is certain, if a trust is needed, the time to plan for it is now.
Important Information About Procedures for Opening a New Account
To help the government fight the funding of terrorism and money laundering activities, the USA Patriot Act requires all financial institutions to obtain, verify, and record information that identifies each person (including business entities) who opens an account.
What This Means to You
When you open an account, we will ask for your name, physical address, date of birth, taxpayer identification number, and other information that will allow us to identify you. We may also ask to see your driver’s license or other identifying documents. We will let you know if additional information is required.