Estate Planning

Estate Planning and Your Legacy

Estate planning is more than drafting a will or deciding who inherits your assets. It’s a core part of your financial strategy, designed to protect your wealth, safeguard your health, and provide for your loved ones under any circumstance. For ultra-high-net-worth clients, it also includes advanced strategies such as insurance planning, asset protection, tax minimization, charitable giving, and next-generation financial education and planning.

Many individuals and families we meet either haven’t completed their foundational documents and trusts, or haven’t updated them in years. We can help to get the ball rolling. A strong estate plan ensures your legacy reflects your values, your intentions are honored, and your family is protected. A comprehensive legacy plan can include:

*An ethical will to share values and life lessons
*Guidance for preserving family history
*Instructions for managing digital assets and social media
*Succession planning for a family business
*Funding for education
*Establishment of a charitable foundation

Start the conversation today. Call us at (561) 210-7887 or use the form below to schedule a no-obligation estate and financial planning consultation with Jon Ulin, CFP®, Managing Principal. We collaborate with your attorney, CPA, and other trusted advisors to review, coordinate, and implement your estate planning strategy.

Working With Your Estate Planning Team

Think of us as your family’s CFO. We coordinate your attorney and CPA, gather and verify facts, translate legal and tax details, and drive execution from first draft to funding. We maintain checklists, track deadlines, and keep your plan current as laws and life change. Key areas we assist with include:

Core Documents

• Wills and foundational estate planning documents

• Guardianship instructions for minors or incapacitated adults

• Powers of attorney, living wills, and HIPAA authorizations

Wealth & Tax Strategies

• Account ownership and beneficiary designations

• Tax-efficient income distribution strategies in retirement

• Trusts for asset transfer, legacy planning, and asset protection

• Marital trust arrangements and spousal planning

• Estate and gift tax considerations, including unified credits

• Charitable giving strategies

• Business succession and liquidity planning for estate tax obligations

• Probate cost reduction strategies

Health & Family Planning

• Long-term care and health care planning

• Next-generation financial education

4 Foundational Estate Planning Documents

Gathering your financial and personal details is something you can do on your own. Drafting legal documents should never be. One overlooked clause can cost your estate thousands in probate, delay distributions, or create disputes over medical and financial decisions. Work with an experienced estate attorney to ensure your plan is airtight.

1. Will (Last Will and Testament)
   Names who inherits your assets, appoints an executor, and designates guardians for minor children. Without it, Florida law decides for you.
2. Durable Power of Attorney (Financial)
   Allows someone you trust to manage bills, accounts, and investments if you can’t.
3. Health Care Surrogate (Medical Power of Attorney)
   Gives a trusted person authority to make medical decisions on your behalf when you cannot communicate.
4. Living Will (Advance Health Care Directive)
   Clearly states your wishes for end-of-life care, including life support or resuscitation.

Other Key Documents and Strategies

Additional tools help protect your wealth, minimize taxes, and prevent headaches for your heirs.

Revocable Living Trust
Transfers assets during your lifetime, manages them if you become incapacitated, and distributes them privately at death without probate. Trusts can also:

• Provide tax planning for larger estates

• Offer asset protection in certain structures

• Serve as charitable giving vehicles, like charitable remainder trusts

• Include provisions for minors, special needs beneficiaries, or those who may not manage assets responsibly

Guardianship Designations
Use your will to name who will care for minor children or dependents if you pass away. A guardian designation only takes effect after death. Florida allows a “preneed guardian” in limited situations, but the will is the primary legal tool.

Account, Beneficiary, and Digital Asset Management

• Keep all accounts and policies current with named beneficiaries (retirement plans, bank accounts, annuities, life insurance)

• Maintain a list of key documents (birth certificates, deeds, titles) and locations for family access

• Provide instructions for digital assets, including email, social media, cloud storage, photos, and domain names

10 Commonly Overlooked Estate Planning Obstacles

Even experienced families often encounter gaps:

1. No plan or outdated documents

2. Wills not executed correctly under state law

3. Plans not updated after major life changes

4. Missing provisions for guardianship or simultaneous death

5. Inadequate tax planning, leaving exposure to estate taxes

6. Improperly titled assets or outdated beneficiary designations

7. Lack of preparation for disability, illness, or long-term care

8. Ignoring inflation’s impact on future estate taxes

9. Insufficient liquidity to cover estate obligations

10. Psychological barriers, including procrastination or discomfort with mortality

Coordinated planning with your advisor, attorney, and CPA can prevent these pitfalls and secure your legacy.

Consider the Following Estate Planning Facts

• Your legacy is more than money—it’s passing on values, goals, and a vision for future generations.

• Guardianship designations are essential for minors or dependents.

• Powers of attorney, living wills, and HIPAA authorizations allow trusted individuals to make health and financial decisions.

• Beneficiary designations and account titling can override your will.

• Trusts efficiently transfer wealth, reduce probate, and may minimize estate taxes; advanced trust strategies are needed for minors or special needs beneficiaries.

• In Florida, some insurance and annuity accounts may protect assets from lawsuits or creditors.

• Dying without a will (“intestate”) leaves courts to decide distribution and care for dependents.

• A will does not avoid probate—the court-supervised process of validating a will, settling claims, and distributing property.

• Estate tax exemptions vary by state and may differ from federal limits, affecting your planning strategy.

Bottom line: Coordinating these details now with your advisor, attorney, and tax professional prevents costly disputes and ensures your wishes are executed clearly and confidently.

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Calculating Your Gross Estate

Estate planning often includes strategies such as maximizing the annual gift tax exclusion. For 2025, the annual gift tax exclusion amount is $18,000 per person. Married couples can gift up to $36,000 per recipient per year without increasing their estate tax exposure.

Thanks to recent legislation, the higher federal estate and gift tax exemptions have been made permanent. For 2025, the federal exemption is $13.99 million per person (or $27.98 million for married couples). Beginning January 1, 2026, the exemption will increase to $15 million per person (or $30 million for married couples), with annual adjustments for inflation.

For federal estate tax purposes, your gross estate (IRC §2031) includes the value of all property—real or personal, tangible or intangible—that you own at the time of death, plus certain life insurance proceeds. This can also include items not always addressed in a will or estate plan, such as outstanding claims from lawsuits.

To ensure accuracy and avoid surprises make sure to inventory all your assets and insurance policies on one list along with beneficiary designations. 

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17 States With Estate or Inheritance Taxes

Florida residents benefit from an important distinction: the state imposes no estate or inheritance tax. For families considering relocation or multiple residences, this makes Florida an attractive state for long-term estate planning.

While the federal estate tax exemption is now at historic highs, many states impose their own estate or inheritance taxes. Where you claim your primary residence can directly impact how much of your estate is taxed.

As of 2025, 17 U.S. states and the District of Columbia impose either estate or inheritance taxes, or both. These taxes can significantly impact the value of your estate and the inheritance received by your beneficiaries.

• States with an inheritance tax (5): Iowa, Kentucky, Nebraska, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania. Inheritance taxes apply to what the beneficiary receives, not the size of the estate itself. For example, Kentucky taxes inheritances at up to 16%, although spouses and certain close relatives are generally exempt.

• States with an Estate Tax are taxed on both their own state tax and the federal estate tax, though the federal tax allows a deduction for state estate taxes paid, so the combined liability is significant but not simply additive.

🏛️ States with Estate Taxes (12 + D.C.)

1. Connecticut – Estate tax applies to estates exceeding $13.99 million, with rates up to 12%. Wealthspire

2. District of Columbia – Estates over $4.87 million are taxed at rates ranging from 11.2% to 16%. Kiplinger

3. Hawaii – Estates above $5.49 million are taxed at rates up to 20%. Wealthspire

4. Illinois – Estate tax applies to estates exceeding $4 million, with rates up to 16%. Partners Financial

5. Maine – Estates over $7 million are taxed at rates up to 12%. Partners Financial

6. Maryland – Estate tax applies to estates exceeding $5 million, with rates up to 16%. Partners Financial

7. Massachusetts – Estates over $2 million are taxed at rates up to 16%. Partners Financial

8. Minnesota – Estate tax applies to estates exceeding $3 million, with rates up to 16%. Partners Financial

9. New York – Estates over $7.16 million are taxed at rates up to 16%. Partners Financial

10. Oregon – Estate tax applies to estates exceeding $1 million, with rates up to 16%. Partners Financial

11. Rhode Island – Estates over $1.8 million are taxed at rates up to 16%. Partners Financial

12. Vermont – Estate tax applies to estates exceeding $5 million, with rates up to 16%. Partners Financial

13. Washington – Estates over $2.19 million are taxed at rates up to 20%. Partners Financial

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Note: Please consult your tax and/or legal advisor before implementing any tax and/or legal related strategies. IFP and Ulin & Co do not provide tax and/or legal advice.