Modern Estate Planning Blog

Sacramento estate planning lawyers are quite savvy when it comes to working with the “traditional” kinds of income clients have. The attorney will help them figure out how to plan based on current and expected salary, along with a variety of assets like retirement plans or bank accounts.  Each of these may be considered a source of income for your estate.

Now that the obvious is out of the way, you might also find that there are other types of income that can be overlooked because they’re just not as common.  If you’re receiving money in the following ways (or your estate will), it’s important to have the estate planning lawyer take that into consideration when developing the right plan for you.

You Hit the Jackpot

Let’s say you’ve made nice with Lady Luck and have some lottery or other winnings. A Sacramento estate planning lawyer will be able to help you understand how they might be taxed and/or if they’re even transferrable to your heirs.

Write On!

If you’re a writer or other kind of creative person who receives royalties for your work, you’re going to want to take that income into consideration when drawing up your plan. Make sure this is something you and your attorney discuss, and bring along any contracts you have regarding the payments.

You’re Gifted

Perhaps you’ve received some sort of income from gifts or an inheritance. It’s possible that upon your death, these assets will not transfer to your heirs, rather they will be redirected to the gifter’s alternate beneficiary.

Annuities, Too!

There are different kinds of annuities from which you might draw income. You’ll want to look these over thoroughly with an estate planning lawyer in Sacramento to determine what will become of the annuity once you pass away.

Stuff You Don’t Even Have Yet

If you are listed as a beneficiary on someone else’s life insurance, retirement, or other source of funds but they have not yet passed away and left the money to you, it’s a very good idea to make sure your estate planning lawyer is aware of the expected property so you can include a plan for it in your overall estate plan.

You can save yourself some time and money by making sure that you have all of the appropriate documentation and contact information for any of these types of income before you ever even set foot in the estate planning lawyer’s office. Things like royalties come sporadically and can be easily overlooked, so make sure you’ve taken the time to really think through and accounted for every source of income you have.

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