How Sound is Your Estate  Plan?

ESTATE PLANNING SERVICES

Constructing and maintaining an effective estate plan require the right tools. Use this checklist to review your current plan. Your answers can help your professional advisors assist you in choosing the types of personal trusts, insurance and other estate-planning tools that may best achieve your goals.
Congress will continue to consider legislation that could impact taxes. It is now more important than ever that you review your existing estate plan with your advisors to determine if your expectations for distribution of your wealth to your heirs are still valid, and to determine how they will be impacted under different potential future scenarios. Today building a plan means more than claiming current tax exemption amounts. It requires ongoing discussions with you, your heirs and your

	YES	NO	
GENERAL ESTATE PLANNING AND DOCUMENTS	
1.  Do you and your spouse both have an up-to-date will?   Date: _ _ _ _ _ /_ _ _ _ _ /_ _ _ _ _			
2.  Do you have a durable power of attorney designating someone to make financial decisions for you if you are unable to do so yourself?			
3.  Do you have a living will and a durable power of attorney for health care to ensure your wishes are carried out if you are unable to make health care decisions for yourself?			
4.  If you have children who are minors, does your will name a guardian to take care of them if you
(and your spouse, if you are married) should die?			
5.  Have you considered using a living trust to avoid probate on the transfer of certain assets to family members and other loved ones?			
6.  If you have a living trust, have you titled your assets in the name of the trust?			
7.  Are you comfortable with the executors(s) and trustee(s) you have selected?			
8.  Are you taking income from retirement assets,  such as an IRA or annuity, that you do not need to maintain your lifestyle?			
9.  Have you reviewed your plans and documents to reflect the impact of recent federal tax law changes, including higher exemption amounts for estate, gift and generation skipping tax purposes and the existence of formula clauses that could have unintended consequences?			
ESTATE PLANNING FOR YOUR SPOUSE AND CHILDREN	
10.  If you are married, does your estate plan take optimal advantage of the unlimited marital deduction?			
11.  Does your plan incorporate the opportunity to take advantage of any of your or your spouse’s unused estate tax exemption?			
12.  Have you created a qualified terminable interest property (QTIP) trust to provide your spouse with a lifetime income and, at your spouse’s  death, transfer the trust property to children or other beneficiaries?			
13.  Have you and your spouse coordinated your estate plans to take full advantage of both of your gift- and estate-tax exclusions?			
14.  If you are married and live in a community property state, do you know whether the characterization of your assets (as community property or as separate property) allows you to take advantage of both of your gift- and estate-tax exclusions?			

professional advisors, including your legal and/or tax advisors, to make sure your hopes and dreams are met.

15.  Are you worried about protecting your assets from, and controlling the distribution of assets from your estate, to one or more heirs due to divorce or behavior issues?

	YES	NO	
16.  If you have children from a previous marriage, do your planning documents address your goals for transferring wealth to them?			
17.  Do you envision transferring wealth to grandchildren?			
18.  Have you developed a college funding plan for your children?			
19.  Do you have a plan for completing your college funding plan if you should die?			
20.  Do you have term life insurance?			
21.  Do you have permanent life insurance?			
22.  Have you created an irrevocable life insurance trust to manage the insurance proceeds and exclude them from your taxable estate?			
23.  Did you purchase your life insurance more than eight years ago?			
24.  Have you created a special needs trust for a child or other family member with a disability to provide for that person while maintaining his or her federal and state benefit eligibility?			
GIFTING	
25.  Are you taking maximum advantage of the $13,000 (in 2012) gift-tax annual exclusion for lifetime gifts?			
26.  Did you know that the gift-tax annual exclusion is reviewed every year for inflation and adjusted in
$1,000 increments?			
27.  Have you created trusts that qualify for the receipt of property that is subject to gift-tax annual exclusion?			
28.  Have you taken advantage of the old $1 million gift-tax lifetime exclusion amount for gifts?			
29.  Are you interested in gifting additional amounts under the 2012 $5.12 million gift-tax lifetime exclusion amount?			
30.  Have you made or considered gifts of assets that have a strong probability of appreciating in value?			
31. Have you considered creating a charitable remainder trust to provide you or other beneficiaries with an income stream for a set period, with the assets remaining in the trust at the end of that period going to the charity of your choice?			
32.  Do you have non-financial assets such as real estate, a private business or oil/gas interests?			

This material  was prepared to support the promotion and marketing of estate  planning services, including insurance products. Merrill Lynch and their respective representatives do not provide tax, accounting or legal advice. Any tax statements  contained herein were not intended or written to be used, and cannot be used for the purpose of avoiding U.S. federal, state or local tax penalties. Please consult your own independent advisor as to any tax, accounting or legal statements  made herein.
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