Estate Planning Issues for the Terminally Ill
Viatical Settlements Sep 8, 2008
A viatical settlement is the sale of a life insurance policy by an individual who is terminally ill. The individual sells the policy to a third party (often a viatical settlement funding company) that pays the individual a lump-sum cash payment that is a percentage of the face value of the policy, usually 40 to 85 percent. Terminally ill individuals may wish to sell their life insurance policies in order to use the money in advance of their death rather than leave it directly to a beneficiary. For instance, you may want to sell your life insurance policy in order to have money to pay for living expenses, to pay for medical care, or to experience the joy of using or giving away the money before you die.
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Annuity Basics Sep 5, 2008
An annuity is a contract between you, the purchaser or owner, and an insurance company, the annuity issuer. In its simplest form, you pay money to an annuity issuer, and the issuer pays out the principal and earnings back to you or to a named beneficiary.
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Charitable Giving Sep 5, 2008
When developing your estate plan, you can do well by doing good. Leaving money to charity rewards you in many ways. It gives you a sense of personal satisfaction, and it can save you money in estate taxes.
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Estate Planning; An Introduction Sep 5, 2008
By definition, estate planning is a process designed to help you manage and preserve your assets while you are alive, and to conserve and control their distribution after your death according to your goals and objectives. But what estate planning means to you specifically depends on who you are. Your age, health, wealth, lifestyle, life stage, goals, and many other factors determine your particular estate planning needs. For example, you may have a small estate and may be concerned only that certain people receive particular things. A simple will is probably all you'll need. Or, you may have a large estate, and minimizing any potential estate tax impact is your foremost goal. Here, you'll need to use more sophisticated techniques in your estate plan, such as a trust.
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Facing Possiblility of Incapacity Sep 5, 2008
Incapacity means that you are either mentally or physically unable to take care of yourself or your day-to-day affairs. Incapacity can result from serious physical injury, mental or physical illness, mental retardation, advancing age, and alcohol or drug abuse.
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Life Insurance and Charitable Giving Sep 5, 2008
Life insurance can be an excellent tool for charitable giving. Not only does life insurance allow you to make a substantial gift to charity at relatively little cost to you, but you may also benefit from tax rules that apply to gifts of life insurance. |
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