A legacy is a beautiful way to share the wisdom and meaning of life.
Depending on the complexity of your plans, it may require considerable thought, planning, and time to implement and carry out your wishes.
This path helps you create an action plan to follow if you want to:
- Share your memories, wisdom, and values,
- Provide for loved ones and special needs children,
- Plan an inheritance, transfer wealth, make a charitable donation, or start a scholarship.
Guiding Principle for Building Your Legacy
Invest in what you value.
How the Path Works
Learn it.
- Explore different types of legacies and clarify your ideas and opportunities.
- Discover ways to communicate and structure the impact you’d like to make.
- Learn how to preserve and transfer assets, wealth, wisdom, and values.
Plan it.
- Organize your valuables and create an action plan to distribute them.
- Work with advisors to set up a trust, foundation, scholarship, or succession plan.
- Plan the timing and tax implications of donations and gifts to make them easier.
- Set up estate planning parameters for loved ones and special needs children.
Do it!
- Start designing and documenting the things that matter most.
- Set up tax-exempt status with the IRS for trusts, foundations, and scholarships.
- Involve family members and counsel to maintain and monitor investments.
TIP: Creating a legacy can take many forms. Starting the process early lets you handle each aspect with care.
Topics Covered
A legacy is a gift you can give your loved ones that touches their hearts and shows your concern for their well-being. In some cases, a legacy can also become larger in scope and even extend to people you never knew.
Deciding to share your wisdom and assets in this way is like a contribution to the future, helping prepare others to meet their challenges with greater knowledge.
The articles, guides, and financial tools in this path are designed to help you:
- Clarify what it means to leave a legacy,
- Understand the opportunities available to transfer wealth and wisdom,
- Express your desires and provide for others when necessary.
In most cases, the process covers similar topics such as:
- How should I choose the executor of my estate?
- How do I provide for a special needs child after I die?
- What is probate and how do I avoid it?
- Who is responsible for my bills and debts if they aren’t paid off?
- What is a trust and how does it work?
- How do I pass my business on to my heirs?
Frequently Asked Questions
How much of a gift can I give before it becomes taxable?
For 2024, the maximum gift you can give someone before it becomes taxable is $18,000.[1]
Sources:
- IRS provides tax inflation adjustments for tax year 2024
IRS.gov
11-09-23 | Accessed: 12-05-24
What is probate?
Probate is a legal process where the will is validated and, thereafter, the court appoints an executor to administer the estate.
How much does it cost to set up a trust?
According to Nerdwallet, a simple online trust could cost up to $600 while a more complex trust could cost $3,000. [1]
Sources:
- Will vs. Trust: Cost, Process and Uses
Tiffany Lam-Balfour, Nerdwallet.com
06-11-24 | Accessed: 12-05-24
Who can be the executor of my estate?
Check with your state, but normally anyone who is over 18 (or 21 in some states), a U.S. resident, and not legally incapacitated can function as the executor of an estate. Usually, people choose someone they trust or a professional such as a CPA or attorney.
