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Don’t Leave Liabilities to Beneficiaries

One great gift a person can leave to his beneficiaries is an estate without liabilities. There are times when a beneficiary learns he will receive assets from an estate and then later he is told that there are too many debts of the estate and as a result his gift no longer exists.  As people age, medical expenses can get overwhelming and harder to control.  Credit cards, personal loans, car loans, and mortgages can add up to total more than a person’s assets.

When someone dies with debt, the estate assets must satisfy the debts before gifts can be made to beneficiaries from the estate.  In some cases property of an estate may be liquidated or sold to pay debts. This is fairly common when a person dies owing the IRS taxes or penalties and there are insufficient liquid (or cash) funds to pay the debts.

Getting Help

Properly structuring your estate and planning for the liquidity needs of your estate while alive can help preserve  assets.

Experienced Estate Planning Attorney Elga Goodman can help you prepare an estate plan which protects your assets and your loved ones.  Call us today at 973-841-5111.

 

Posted in: Estate Planning, New York Estate Planning