Finance: Understanding Structured Settlements and their Advantages

Understanding Structured Settlements and their Advantages

Written by Josh Murray

Put in simple terms, a structured settlement is merely an agreement that’s reached between a plaintiff and defendant that outlines repparttar

flow of payment that repparttar 148700

plaintiff receives, due to injury. These payments – which are made over a specified period of time – do offer some advantages to repparttar 148701

recipient and are advocated by many legal professionals, since they provide more benefits over time, when tax rates are factored in for consideration.

When repparttar 148702 payment system is set up, it can be customized according to repparttar 148703 needs of repparttar 148704 recipient and is issued through a stable financial institution. In cases where there will be ongoing medical expenses and/or living expenses that will be covered by such a settlement, it’s important to be comfortable with repparttar 148705 experience and repparttar 148706 history of success that repparttar 148707 company offers.

Among repparttar 148708 many advantages of a structured settlement is repparttar 148709 fact that repparttar 148710 income that’s generated from this type of agreement is not included as part of repparttar 148711 recipient’s annual gross income. In this way, repparttar 148712 amount of dollars that are extracted upon filing a tax return doesn’t have to be adjusted upward due to repparttar 148713 excess income that is provided through a structured settlement.

Since repparttar 148714 payments that are made through a structured settlement are guaranteed by some of repparttar 148715 largest and most highly acclaimed insurance companies in America, there is a very low risk factor that’s involved in receiving an uninterrupted cash flow once a settlement has been reached. This, too, is a benefit, since repparttar 148716 discontinuation of payout can be devastating to an individual or their family.

Estate Planning Basics

Written by Amy Nichols

You have probably accomplished a great deal with your life. Over repparttar

years you have worked, planned and saved. Perhaps you have even made some sacrifices to achieve your current level of success. It’s a sure bet that you will want to pass along your accumulated assets rather than hand them over for court costs, taxes or attorney fees.

Estate planning is repparttar 148699 relatively simple process by which you prepare legal documents outlining your wishes for your estate upon your death. It can be difficult to plan for repparttar 148700 end of your life, but this planning is necessary to protect your family and your assets.

What is your estate?

Your estate refers to your property, those things you own, including your total assets and liabilities. Your property includes your home, car, accounts (i.e. bank, retirement, and brokerage), jewelry, insurance policies and so forth.

The language of estate planning

It is understandable that repparttar 148701 idea of planning for your family after die can be a little frightening. Familiarity with repparttar 148702 terms used in estate planning will help you begin to develop some comfort with repparttar 148703 process.

Estate: Refers to your property or those things that you own.

Property: Includes two categories, real (as in real estate/your home(s) and personal, which includes everything else such as stocks, bank accounts, car(s), jewelry, and so forth.

Intestate: Is a pre, or non-planning state. Dying intestate means that you have died without creating a will or trust to outline your desires for distribution of your estate. Trust: Eliminates many of repparttar 148704 financial risks in planning for repparttar 148705 transfer of your estate from you to your heirs upon your death. Risks include taxes, probate, lawyers, creditors, judgments, etc. A trust can provide for repparttar 148706 management of your estate if you become incapacitated as well reduce death taxes and assure a smooth transfer of your property according to your wishes. Trusts can be revocable or irrevocable. Talk with your tax or legal advisor about repparttar 148707 benefits of each.

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