Planning for Real Estate with Estate Planning

One of the most important considerations you will need to make in regards to your real estate holdings and your estate includes tax planning. If not handled properly, your estate could end up getting hit with significant losses due to taxes after your demise. To protect yourself and your estate against this possibility, it's important to plan for your real estate with estate planning.

First, it's important to understand exactly what estate planning is and what it is not. Estate planning goes far beyond the simple drafting of a will. In essence, an estate is the total property, both real and personal, that is owned by an individual prior to distribution through a trust or a will. The act of planning your estate involves distribution of the real and personal property to your heirs, taking into consideration all the applicable laws, regulations and possible tax considerations.

The goal of estate planning is to preserve the most amount of your wealth possible for the intended beneficiaries; prior to your death. Due consideration of this must be entered into in order to avoid penalties related to certain Federal and State tax laws. Otherwise the property and wealth that you struggled to earn and obtain during your lifetime could easily be lost to the ravages of poor estate planning after your death instead of benefiting your heirs as you intended.

Wills and trusts are two instruments which are commonly used in estate planning. They have different purposes and very different outcomes, however. Wills are subject to probate court and if they are contested; the result can be a length and costly legal battle. In some cases, the majority of an estate has been whittled away the costs associated with a contested will. It is possible in some situations to avoid probate through the use of a trust and therefore avoid the risk of a long drawn out and expensive legal battle. A trust is used when property is held by one or more persons for the benefit of one or more other persons known as beneficiaries. The holder may be a separate trustee or a beneficiary. A trust is commonly used when there are minor children as heirs; although it could be used for other purposes. Other considerations to avoid possible negative tax impacts on you real estate include lifetime gifts and gifts made while you are still alive.

In some cases you may find that charitable gift contributions are a good way to go because you can take advantage of immediate tax savings as well as future tax savings. Under some circumstances you may be able to avoid the capital gains tax you would accrue if you sold a property as well as take an income tax charitable deduction for the property's full market value when you use it to make an outright gift. Since the property will be removed from you estate, this will also provide future tax savings. Some individuals also choose to plan for their real estate by generating income through a charitable remainder in order to receive income either for life or during a specified term of years.

If you own real estate it is critical that you take care of it with carefully crafted estate planning early on. This can help you to anticipate economic changes without being hit with severe economic impacts later on.

Nicole Soltau is the President and Founder of CreditUnionRate.com.
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More than 40 states signed onto a proposed $25-billion deal with major mortgage servicers over faulty foreclosure practices. New York, Nevada and Delaware joined California in holding out for better terms.

More than 40 states signed onto a proposed $25-billion settlement with major mortgage servicers over faulty foreclosure procedures, but California, New York and other key states were still not among them.

California has until Monday to share in a multi-state deal with banks to obtain mortgage relief and reforms. Atty. Gen. Kamala Harris, who walked away from talks last year, says the door remains open.

With a Monday deadline at hand, California officials have resumed direct talks with the Obama administration about joining a multibillion-dollar, multi-state mortgage settlement with the nation's largest banks, a source said Sunday.

The talk show host pays $12 million for the 4,088-square-foot house with four bedrooms and four bathrooms. The ocean-view home sits on 1.26 bluff-top acres with beach access.

In one of the more talked-about transactions in town, actors Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie have sold their Malibu beach house to daytime host and comedian Ellen De Generes for $12 million.

The four-bedroom, five-bathroom house built in 1920 for industrialist James Wigmore lists for $2,875,000.

A decorative cast stone entrance opens to this restored Spanish Colonial Revival-style house in Pasadena's South Orange Grove area. Built in 1920 for industrialist James Wigmore, the house retains such original details as coffered wood ceilings and arched doorways.

They don't believe they can sell their property for what it's worth, so they're spending money on making their homes more comfortable.

Do you fit any of these descriptions?

A biennial research report by the National Assn. of Realtors indicates that a handful of real estate agents and brokers and their clients either don't know the law or don't care to follow it.

When it comes to lawsuits, real estate agents and brokers tangle mostly among themselves.

The president aims to help about 3.5 million people with good credit who are unable to refinance at historically low rates because their homes are worth less than their mortgages.

 

The White House hopes to help millions of homeowners lower their monthly mortgage bill with a $5 billion to $10 billion plan to set up a streamlined refinancing program for people who are current on their payments.

The Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller index of 20 large U.S. cities fell 1.3% in November from October as foreclosures continue to drag down the housing market.

Three straight months of home-price declines in the biggest U.S. cities showed that foreclosures remain a significant drag on a housing market that is entering its fifth year of deterioration.

L.A. Clipper Chris Paul may be quick down the court, but he moves pretty fast when it comes to buying multimillion-dollar real estate too.