Minute Estate Planner Podcast

If you don’t think you can learn something useful about estate planning in one minute, think again. Estate Planning Attorney Jesse Bifulco presents the Minute Planner Series.

Expect an Inheritance?

In sixty seconds, learn the best way to bring up the subject of your inheritance without touching emotional nerves. Also, learn how to tell if you’re getting the best inheritance advice from your chosen adviser.
Jesse Bifulco, Attorney, Camden Maine

Transcript

If you’re getting an inheritance, is an appropriate subject to bring up and what advice should you get?
If someone cares about you enough to gift you property in their will they probably want you to get the most out of it. However it is a sensitive subject. But why is it important? Because there are better and worse ways to leave or get an inheritance. And you can avoid loss of property by doing it the right way.
Here are the tips:
If they’re willing to talk about it, its probably okay to bring it up. Sometimes its easier to bring it up in terms of a technical discussion. “Perhaps we should have our family advisers look into this?”
The next tip is to get the advice of a knowledgeable, reputable estate planning attorney. And you should discuss these topics:
How can I protect my inheritance from potential future creditors, such as a divorce, or fortune hunters or opportunists? How can I protect my kids?
What are the tax implications? Is there a way to reduce income taxes? What about gift and estate taxes?
If the adviser you go to does not cover these topics, chances are they are not qualified to help you.