Estate Planning and Administration
Successful estate planning involves not only carrying out your desires with precision, but also assuring that those left behind have an easy task in settling your estate. At Spencer & Taylor we use a wide array of the estate planning tools to carry out your estate plan including the following:

• Wills and Trusts
• Revocable Grantor Trusts
• Estate Tax Exemption Trust
• Qualified Terminable Interest Trust
• Charitable Annuity and Remainder Trust

The necessity for advance estate planning is compounded in light of the present debate over federal and state tax laws, and we work with clients to get over the sometimes difficult threshold of just sitting down to deal with the many small decisions that add up to success throughout the process, from simply drafting a will to leaving the estate in the best possible condition for your heirs.

Federal estate tax law, for instance, in 2001 modestly reduced the estate tax rate and increased the exemption amount between 2002 and 2009, and currently allows an untaxed inheritance of up to $2 million to be left to any heir, and an unlimited amount to a surviving spouse. Under current (2001) law, the estate tax is fully repealed in 2010, but is reinstated in 2011, with a top rate of 55 percent and an exemption cap of $1 million.

Political battles over estate tax law are all but guaranteed in 2009 as the 2011 change looms, and while it’s likely we’ll see an increase in the exemption amount, it’s far from certain. Meanwhile, various states have reacted differently to the federal changes.

Confusing? It’s a lot to keep up with, and that’s why we’re here to help. At Spencer & Taylor, senior partner Thomas Spencer makes Estates and Trusts his specialty. Our goal is to prepare an estate plan that will be easy to implement, smooth in administration, and minimal in the estate-tax burden it will create, and our expertise assures that your estate will be left in the best possible condition.