When you need an experienced attorney who will handle your wrongful death case himself, ensuring that the legal system treats you and your family fairly, call the Millea Law Firm. Matt Millea’s focus is on personal injury and wrongful death. He will work directly with you, giving you individual attention and personally preparing your case. Visit site: http://www.millealawfirm.com/

2. Losing a loved one is one of the worst
things we deal with in the course of our
lives.
Unfortunately, to compound pain with
frustration, there is an additional layer to
losing a family member: taxes.

3. For hundreds of years, the government
has required remittance by the families
of the deceased into public coffers.

4. Originally designed as a tithe from an
incoming noble to a lord, in academic
circles it is considered to be a method of
prohibiting a noble class from arising.

5. Whether or not that is effective, what’s
for certain is that estate and probate
taxes, as they are commonly called, are
difficult to understand and even more
difficult to enforce.

6. Upon the death of a loved one, most
people have a living will that describes
how the deceased wishes their assets to
be distributed upon their demise.

7. If married, many wills grant most of the
assets to the spouse with a few select
items “willed” to sons, daughters, or
grandchildren.

8. That is because in the United States, one
spouse may gift the other an unlimited
amount with no tax implications.

9. On a side note, this was a significant part
of the debate when deciding whether or
not to legalize same-sex marriage.

10. Many wills are very short for this reason;
if you’re just going to give everything to
your spouse, in effect you are simply
stating that everything remains in place!

12. If there is no living spouse, the situation
becomes more complex.
As of 2013, in the United States $5.25
million of the estate is excluded from the
taxable estate.

13. Past that amount, 40% is due to the
government.
“Wait!” you might say, “there’s no way
my grandfather has more than 5 million
dollars!”

14. While that may very well be true, the
estate is calculated based on all of their
assets.
Many people hold investments such as
real estate or securities which may be
unknown to younger family members.

15. In addition, many collector’s items such
as paintings and antiques may be worth
a considerable sum of money.

16. It can be quite a shock to discover that a
humble relative had a taxable net worth
of seven million dollars!

17. Once the net worth has been
established, the family must determine
the tax amount and how to liquidate
assets, if necessary, to pay the estate
tax.

18. For example, let’s assume that a
deceased grandmother had $7M in
assets.
That results in a total tax of $700,000.

19. It is unlikely that this person had a bank
account with a million dollars in it, so it
will be necessary to sell off some assets
in order to meet the tax burden.

20. A qualified attorney will draft a will while
the person is still alive that takes care of
this contingency.

21. For example, the grandmother may
have arranged for certain real estate
holdings to be turned into highly
marketable securities that can be
easily sold to meet the estate tax.

22. This process is done carefully by
estate accountants, and formalized
by attorneys experienced in the field.

24. When you need an experienced
attorney who will handle your wrongful
death case himself, ensuring that the
legal system treats you and your family
fairly, call the
Millea Law Firm.

25. Matt Millea’s focus is on
personal injury and wrongful
death.
He will work directly with
you, giving you individual
attention and personally
preparing your case.

26. www.millealawfirm.com
(480) 481-0616