The state considers all of your possessions part of your estate when you die. Therefore, to best distribute these among your heirs, you need to know what affects these items.
Here are a few factors that can affect your estate planning.
Probate
If you have followed good estate planning tips, you will have left your will where your family can easily find and implement it during the probate period. However, collecting your estate, paying off debts and distributing the money can be slow. It can also become expensive if anyone contests your will.
Joint ownership
Any property you share with someone else automatically passes to the other owner. While this generally applies to married individuals, it can also apply to business partners, children and others you own property. This fact can be good or bad for your estate, depending on how you view it. Either way, it is something you need to consider when planning.
Federal taxes
Few estates owe federal taxes. Generally, you only have to worry about federal taxes if your estate totals millions.
State taxes
Until 2005, all states had a pickup tax on estates that owed federal taxes. However, it was not an estate tax. It merely picked up some of what the federal government collected. In 2005, the federal government changed its system, and this disappeared.
Fortunately, California was not one of the states that implemented a state-level estate tax. Therefore, you do not have to worry about state taxes in this state.
Now that you know what can affect you be sure to incorporate this when planning your will. First, consider anything you might not be able to pass on or that you may owe. Then, adjust your pan accordingly.