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Teaching children about personal finance, owning foreign assets, assessing the impact of tax extenders, and staying current on the Net Investment Income Tax are topics that many high net worth individuals must address in an on-going basis. Understanding the often highly complex issues and ever changing rules are challenging for even the most diligent individual.

In nearly every discussion about estate planning, important questions and issues arise. If couples arrive in their attorney’s office having already thought about these issues—including assessing the level of financial management skills their beneficiaries should possess, how to communicate to their children about their hopes and expectations about the use of family wealth, whether to leave assets to their heirs outright or in trust, and how much to leave to charity—estate planning discussions will go more smoothly and couples will feel more confident in their decisions.

For each parcel of real property owned, the local assessor sends a Notice of Assessment, Taxable Valuation, and Property Classification. If it hasn’t already been received, it is on its way to the mailbox. Printed on the top of the Notice in big, red capital letters is: THIS IS NOT A BILL. So, most people are inclined to throw the Notice away. Don’t. The Notice lists five important things about the property as determined by the assessor, including the appeal process deadline.

In addition to passing on knowledge, there are various ways to pass on wealth, and that is where smart estate planning and planned gifts come into play. This guide seeks to give you a quick reference to how families can manage wealth, considering taxes, additions of new family members, managing risk, and charitable objectives. It addresses issues common to high-net-worth families, and it should help identify issues most relevant to families and their wealth advisors.

Squeeze, Freeze, and Burn. It sounds like an odd phrase, but it is actually a term used to describe a highly effective estate planning technique. It’s so effective, in fact, that as early as this September the IRS is expected to change some of the rules governing the “Squeeze” aspect—but more on that later.

Transferring more than material wealth has become increasingly important in today’s world. Ethical wills are a key tools that enable you to transmit your values to the next generation with peace of mind. These kinds of wills may include your personal beliefs and philosophy, and even important family history.

One of the most common wealth transfer and estate planning techniques is to use an irrevocable life insurance trust (ILIT) to own life insurance policies. This structure enables individuals and families to direct the transfer of assets in a tax-efficient manner from one generation to another for the benefit of the trust’s beneficiaries.

Trusts have gained enormous popularity over the last 20 years. The top 1 percent of the wealthy have 38 percent of their investment assets in trusts, and the next 4 percent have 43 percent of their investment assets in trusts.1 This powerful trend is largely due to the fact that the modern trust can provide a family not only with powerful tax and asset protection advantages, but also with the flexibility and control of several key nontax trust functions, including investment management.

This case study walks through the estate planning The Blum Firm, P.C. did for a client who sold their billion-dollar company several years ago. The planning occurred in five stages and exemplifies planning which saves taxes, provides asset protection, and structures an inheritance for future generations.