Our Estate Planning Services
We offer a comprehensive range of estate planning services to meet the unique needs of each client. From minimizing taxes to ensuring that your assets are distributed according to your wishes, our services are designed with your future in mind.
Succession Planning
Securing the Future of Your Business
For business owners, succession planning is crucial. We help you create a strategy that ensures the smooth transfer of ownership, whether it’s to family members, business partners, or an external buyer. By preparing early, we help you safeguard your business’s future and ensure that your legacy continues without disruption.
Beneficiary Designation
Who Will Inherit Your Assets?
One of the most important elements of estate planning is choosing your beneficiaries. We guide you through the process of designating who will inherit assets like insurance policies, retirement accounts, and investments. Additionally, we help you keep these designations up to date as your life circumstances change.
Marital Estate Planning
Planning for Your Spouse’s Inheritance
Estate planning often involves special considerations for your spouse. We help you structure your estate to take advantage of tax benefits, ensuring your spouse is provided for without being burdened by excessive tax obligations. We offer solutions like the Qualified Domestic Trust (QDOT), which allows the transfer of wealth to a non-U.S. citizen spouse tax-free.
Estate Planning Design
Our Tailored Process for Crafting Your Estate Plan
Our estate planning process is designed to uncover your personal financial goals and potential tax liabilities. Here’s how it works:
- In-Person Consultation: We begin with a meeting to assess your assets, liabilities, and goals. This comprehensive discussion allows us to fully understand your financial situation and personal objectives, both short- and long-term.
- Comprehensive Financial Overview: After the consultation, we create a detailed financial statement that outlines your assets, liabilities, and tax exposures. This document helps us identify opportunities to reduce taxes and protect your estate.
- Life Insurance Review: We review your current life insurance policies to ensure they are structured properly to meet your estate planning goals. This may involve restructuring policies to maximize benefits and minimize tax liabilities.
- Fiduciaries and Beneficiaries: We help you designate fiduciaries such as guardians, executors, and trustees, ensuring that your estate is managed according to your wishes. Additionally, we review and confirm your beneficiaries to make sure everything is up to date.
- Finalization with Legal and Tax Experts: Once we’ve developed your estate plan, we work closely with your CPA and attorney to finalize and implement the necessary legal documents. This collaborative process ensures that your estate plan is legally sound and tax-efficient.
Tax Reduction Strategies
Minimize Your Tax Liabilities, Maximize Your Wealth
Reducing taxes is central to estate planning. Our expert team helps you implement strategies that protect your wealth from estate, gift, and income taxes. Here are a few of the key strategies we use:
Gifting Strategies
We guide you through using annual gift exclusions and lifetime gift exemptions to reduce the taxable value of your estate. This helps ensure that your heirs receive the maximum amount of your wealth.
Trusts
Trusts are powerful tools in estate planning, allowing you to control how and when your assets are distributed. We specialize in setting up Irrevocable Life Insurance Trusts (ILITs), Qualified Domestic Trusts (QDOTs), and other trusts designed to reduce tax exposure and protect your wealth.
Charitable Giving
Charitable giving can be an effective way to reduce estate taxes while supporting causes you care about. We’ll help you structure charitable remainder trusts (CRTs) and other gifting vehicles to provide tax benefits.
Why Estate Planning is Essential
Without a comprehensive estate plan, your loved ones may face legal challenges, probate delays, and tax burdens. Empire Wealth Group helps you avoid these pitfalls by designing a plan that ensures your wealth is preserved and distributed according to your wishes. Our process gives you peace of mind, knowing that your financial legacy is secure.