“Preserving Your Wealth is the finest document for understanding estate planning. Written for the layman, it is an educational tool to plan for the future. It is a ‘must read’.”
— Walt Imhoff, Chair, Stifel, Nicolaus & Company, Inc.
Preserving Your Wealth is a practical guide to understanding estate planning and probate in Colorado. Written by one of Colorado's leading estate planning attorneys, this book is for anyone—attorneys and non-attorneys alike—seeking an overview of the law dealing with the transfer of wealth during lifetime and at death. This popular and easy-to-read book provides answers to many common questions, such as:
What is probate and what will it cost?
Should I make a will?
What should my will contain?
Whom should I choose as a personal representative?
What powers should be granted in a power of attorney?
Should I have a prenuptial agreement?
Preserving Your Wealth includes in-depth discussion on such topics as:
How an estate is valued for tax purposes.
The steps of estate administration.
Planning to minimize federal estate taxes.
Advance directives, including the health care power of attorney and the living will.
Ways to reduce estate taxes by gift-giving.
An explanation of estate tax credits.
The tax effects of charitable contributions.
Making and executing a will.
The dangers of “homemade” wills.
Using revocable and irrevocable trusts as estate planning tools.
Transferring wealth through life insurance.
Preserving and protecting the value of a farm or business at death.
Custodial or long-term care and how to pay for it.
Medicaid planning and Medicaid eligibility tests.
How retirement benefits will be taxed after death.
Offshore asset protection trusts.
Declarations Regarding Disposition of Last Remains.
The Colorado Patient Autonomy Act.
Expanded discussion about living wills, health care powers of attorney, and other advance directives—the tools available to help Colorado residents maintain control and predictability if they are disabled or in an end-of-life situation.
Updated information about federal estate taxes.
The 2005 phase-out of the Colorado state death tax credit.
Ch 1: PROBATE Definitions Small estate transfers Probate process
Ch 2: WHAT WILL PROBATE COST? Court costs and bond premiums Appraisal fees Personal representative’s fees Attorney fees
Ch 3: WHEN IS MY ESTATE VALUED AND WHY? Valuation Values six months after death Special use valuations
Ch 4: HOW WILL MY DEBTS BE PAID? Provisions in the Will Funeral expenses Estate and inheritance taxes Paying debts and taxes
Ch 5: TIME SCHEDULE FOR ESTATE ADMINISTRATION Personal representative’s duties Time sequence of administration
Ch 6: FEDERAL ESTATE TAX Federal transfer tax Definition of “gross estate” Deductions and the taxable estate Estate tax credits Computing, minimizing, and paying the tax
Ch 7: MARITAL DEDUCTION The applicable exclusion Marital deduction trusts
Ch 8: COLORADO ESTATE TAX Summary
Ch 9: LIFETIME GIFTS AS AN ESTATE-PLANNING STRATEGY Gifts of appreciating assets Removal of gift taxes from the estate Contemplation-of-death gifts Gift tax annual exclusion Gifts for medical needs and tuition Income tax savings Calculating gift tax Gifts to minors Uniform Transfers to Minors Act Irrevocable trusts
Ch 10: SHOULD I MAKE GIFTS TO CHARITY? Gifts of cash, property, and life insurance Income tax deduction Charitable remainder trusts Wealth replacement trust Charitable lead trusts Private charitable foundations Donor advised funds Pooled income funds Gift annuities
Ch 11: SHOULD I MAKE A WILL? Who can and should make a Will? Types of Wills Dying without a Will or with an outdated Will Effect of divorce
Ch 12: WHAT SHOULD MY WILL CONTAIN? Introductory provisions Appointment and powers of personal representative Provision for payment of debts and taxes Provisions disposing of property Provision for common accident or successive deaths Provision for guardianship and conservatorship Contingent management provision
Ch 13: PITFALLS OF A HOMEMADE WILL Invalidity Holographic Wills Improper execution Ambiguity Unintentionally disinheriting family members
Ch 14: CHOOSING THE RIGHT PERSONAL REPRESENTATIVE Duties and powers Choosing a personal representative Compensation Co-personal representatives
Ch 15: JOINTLY OWNED PROPERTY Tenancy in common Joint tenancy Government bonds Bank accounts Effect on taxes
Ch 16: COMMUNITY PROPERTY Record keeping Revenues from separate property Agreements terminating or creating community property Managing the community
Ch 19: LIFE INSURANCE Types of life insurance policies Tax treatment of life insurance Irrevocable life insurance trusts
Ch 20: MY FARM OR BUSINESS Sale or continued operation Liquidity Corporate redemption under Section 303 Deferral and installment payment of estate tax Special use valuation for farms and business real property Buy-sell agreements Cross-purchase agreements Corporate redemption agreements Setting estate tax values Family limited partnerships
Ch 21: DURABLE POWER OF ATTORNEY What powers should be granted? Delegation of parental powers
Ch 22: MEDICAL POWER OF ATTORNEY, “LIVING WILL,” AND OTHER HEALTH CARE DIRECTIVES Health care powers of attorney Colorado law on Living Wills CPR Directives Proxy medical decisions Anatomical gifts Declaration Regarding Disposition of Last Remains
Ch 23: SHOULD I HAVE A PRENUPTIAL AGREEMENT? Summary
Ch 24: ASSET PROTECTION Exempt property Fraudulent transfers Trusts for beneficiaries other than the grantor
Ch 25: OFFSHORE ASSET PROTECTION TRUST Limited partnership with foreign situs trust Retaining control Trust protector What assets go where? Hot assets vs. cool assets Tax neutrality Charging order protection Nest egg planning Domestic vs. foreign trust tax status Fraudulent conveyancing law Statute of limitations
Ch 26: LONG-TERM CARE AND MEDICAID PLANNING Medicaid planning as a long-term care option Medicaid regulations Issues regarding the home and estate recovery Look-back period and ineligibility periods
Ch 27: HOW ARE RETIREMENT BENEFITS TAXED? Delaying income tax Dealing with retirement plan rules Coordination with the estate plan
L. William Schmidt, Jr. practices estate planning, charitable planning, and business planning law in Denver. He has been listed in “The Best Lawyers in America” and “Who’s Who in America.” Mr Schmidt is a frequent speaker and has appeared on a number of national programs. He has authored three books on estate planning and serves on a number of foundation boards. He received one of the first Philanthropic Leadership Awards presented by The Denver Foundation.
