If giving is part of the legacy you hope to leave, our estate and wealth planning teams can help you define the most suitable approach for your family and the organizations you care about. Whether you give regularly during your lifetime or are considering a significant future gift, EP Wealth helps you explore charitable strategies that align with your values and financial priorities. Whether you’re working with an estate attorney or need a referral, our role is to provide clarity and help guide decisions with the full picture in mind. Our team helps you assess beneficiary designations, structure trusts to support long-term stewardship, and coordinate your documents with your goals. Access an Educational Partnership Many clients have clear intentions for their estate, but struggle with how to communicate those plans to their family. Today’s estates often include more than real estate or investment accounts. This includes reviewing how trusts, insurance, and liquidity planning may be used to reduce tax exposure or prepare for future ownership changes. Our charitable giving services are designed to integrate seamlessly with your broader planning strategy, in collaboration with attorneys, CPAs, and other members of your advisory team. If you're ready to take the next step, you can find an advisor in your area to start the conversation. Every estate plan reflects a unique combination of goals, assets, and family relationships. Edward Jones Trust Company as a trustee As an advisor, you can help facilitate the family meeting by acting as an impartial moderator, strengthening your connection to the family beyond the head of household, and providing support during the eventual transition of wealth. It can also help with objectives and goals in maintaining wealth and optimizing estate tax implications. 124 trillion in wealth will be transferred to heirs or charity between 2024 and 2048
You’re on the lookout for the best investment products, and we are too. Diversification is an essential strategy that has been a difference-maker in wealth preservation for centuries. It provides ammunition to be opportunistic and gives you the ability legacy planning for families to buy while others might be forced sellers. A good rule of thumb is to keep six months of business or household operating expenses in cash or cash equivalent
We strive to keep our information current as laws change. Guided by the motto "law for all," our attorney authors and editors have been explaining the law to everyday people ever since. They combine creative problem-solving with legacy planning for families zealous advocacy to protect our clients’ interests. Although most estates fall below the federal exemption threshold, living trusts can be used in combination with other tools to reduce estate tax exposure for larger estates. California probate can take 8–12 months or longer and cost thousands in legal and court fees. You retain control of those assets as the trustee and can make changes at any time. Key Roles in a Revocable Living Tru
When you pass away, the successor trustee distributes the trust assets to your beneficiaries without court involvement. It also helps clients avoid probate, ensuring a smooth transfer of assets to beneficiaries. Clients often select family members without fully considering their financial literacy, availability, and fiduciary responsibilities. Before drafting a trust, attorneys should conduct a detailed client intake to identify estate planning objectives, financial assets, and family dynamics. A revocable trust allows attorneys to structure conditional distributions, such as staggered inheritances, asset protection for beneficiaries, or special needs plannin
Your financial advisor can work with your tax, legal and estate-planning professionals to help ensure you have an estate plan that matches your goals. Irrevocable trusts can be used to provide for a spouse and children from a prior relationship, help ensure that your heirs manage and use funds wisely and minimize federal and state wealth transfer taxes. This pre-meeting assessment for clients helps you determine how much they, their life partners, and their heirs know about investments, other financial tools, and the principles of building and protecting legacy planning for families wealth. Frequent communication about values the family considers important helps to reinforce those values and ensure their understanding by future heirs. We work with you to determine the best way to preserve, manage, and distribute your assets during your life and after death, including providing gifts and bequests to your heirs, while minimizing your estate taxes. Education To help ensure your estate goals are met, consider working with a financial advisor. Trusts are useful for achieving specific estate planning goals, like avoiding probate, legacy planning for families providing privacy. Proper estate planning helps ensure your assets are accessible and accurately distributed without unnecessary fees and taxes. Estate planning helps protect your family and your legacy with a plan for what happens in the event of your death or incapacitatio