12 minute read
Legal
Legal Different Trusts Meet Different Needs in Your Estate Plan
By Libby Banks, the Law Office of Libby Banks, PLLC
There are several different types of trusts we use when doing an estate plan. The primary trust we use in estate planning is the Revocable Living Trust (“RLT”). It is the foundation of most estate plans and has many benefits. It contains instructions for managing the assets in the trust during your life, upon your death, and if you become incapacitated.
The RLT will also avoid the need for a probate court proceeding on your death. You can select the person(s) who will be able to step in quickly to gather, sell, and distribute your assets to your beneficiaries without a court’s involvement.
We sometimes create irrevocable trusts for specific purposes. Most of them involve someone else serving as the trustee of the irrevocable trust – meaning transferring property out of your hands and out of your control. There are four primary uses for irrevocable trusts. One is estate tax avoidance. Estate taxes – or inheritance or death taxes as they are sometimes called – are calculated based on what you own (your “estate”) at your death. To avoid estate taxes, you might create a trust and transfer some of your property out of your estate and into another person’s estate (your children’s, for instance) to avoid or minimize estate taxes at the time of your death.
An irrevocable trust can also be created upon your death to benefit a spouse in a blended family situation. This irrevocable trust can be used to care for your current spouse during his or her lifetime, while assuring that at your current spouse’s death, your children from your previous marriage receive what remains of the assets in the trust.
Asset protection trusts are another common irrevocable trust, designed to avoid creditors and protect assets. An RLT does not provide asset protection. This asset protection trust needs careful and considered planning. It must be created in advance of any trouble on the horizon. If you already have a claim coming down the pike, it is too late to start asset protection planning.
An irrevocable trust can also be established for someone who is receiving government benefits such as Medicaid or trying to protect assets while qualifying for Medicaid long term care services.
Another trust is a pet trust. These are designed to leave money for the care of your pets after your death. The wealthy often use them, but if you have long lived or expensive pets – parrots, tortoises and horses come to mind – a pet trust might be just right for you.
I would be happy to assist you with creating a trust for your needs. Call our office at 602-375-6752 for a free consultation for your estate planning or check out our website at libbybanks.com.
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Our Estate Planning in Phoenix and Scottsdale is highly customized to meet your unique family situation, assets, values, and personal goals. Our complimentary first meeting allows you to get to know Libby, our Estate Planning attorney and talk about your unique situation and what plan will best fit your needs.
Remember, when you choose Libby you are not only hiring someone to prepare your Estate Plan, you are choosing a seasoned Estate Planning attorney to guide you through this often complex process and raise questions you might not have considered. You are choosing an experienced professional to create a plan that serves your family in the way that you want and, after you are gone, a trusted advisor that your loved ones can depend on.
Come see us in our new, convenient office located just down the street at 5010 E. Shea Blvd, Suite 205 Scottsdale, AZ 85254 602.375.6752 | www.libbybanks.com | libby@libbybanks.com
Cover Story Healthy Home Flooring
This locally owned and operated company wants to “floor you” with their quality
When it comes time to replace your flooring, many homeowners may be nervous at the seemingly daunting task. But, lucky for Scottsdale residents, Healthy Home Flooring—a locally-owned and operated flooring company—is here for them every step of the way.
“We are locally owned and operated by family and our mission is simple: we are a family, so think like a family and discover the best ways to provide great flooring, at an exceptional price, for families,” according to Healthy Home Flooring. “We are a flooring company that cares, and we realize in life that there is nothing more important than family and taking care of your loved ones. At Healthy Home Flooring we value your family’s well-being and helping to make it the best environment for a beautiful, comfortable, healthy, and happy home.” Braden Sherman is a customer experience and marketing expert at Healthy Home Flooring. She shares that Healthy Home Flooring aims to “floor” customers with their quality products and services from the very first phone call.
Sherman explains. “We consider ourselves a family, so we want to make sure that each customer is treated like we would treat our own kin. We totally understand that having your flooring replaced can be a scary process! But we want potential customers to know that we are there for them every step of the way.”
WHY HEALTHY HOME FLOORING STANDS OUT
Healthy Home Flooring specializes in providing high quality flooring products that are hypoallergenic, eco-friendly, and low maintenance once installed. Customer service and making things as convenient as possible for clients is always top of mind.
“From start to finish, top to bottom, one call does it all,” according to Healthy Home Flooring. “Same-day appointments, evenings, and weekends are available as well. We will bring the store to your door and give you a free in-home estimate with no hidden extras or unknown costs. You get to see the samples in your home’s lighting next to your furniture and decorations.”
Things That Make Healthy Home Flooring Different:
• Exclusive Worry-Free Guarantee: If you break, dent, scratch, or stain your floors, they will fix it for free! • Lifetime labor guarantee • Industry-exclusive dustless tile removal • Up to 60 months 0% interest financing • Free air duct cleaning • Free home disinfectant • Free cleaning kit • Free furniture pads, that are provided and installed
“We will floor you with our quality,” according to Healthy Home Flooring. “As you don’t have to lift a finger: with our whiteglove services, that include moving your heavy furniture, appliances, replacing your baseboards with new ones, removing the old flooring, hauling it away, and dumping it for you. Our job is done when your happiness exceeds our expectations by making your lives easier while leaving your house looking new and happy for years to come. Taste is a matter is of choice. Quality is a matter of fact.”
Sherman notes that Healthy Home Flooring only uses the best eco-friendly flooring products that are hypoallergenic and have little to no VOC (volatile organic compound). And, as a bonus, Healthy Home Flooring offers a free air duct cleaning service with each installation to say thank you for choosing them to install your family’s flooring.
Sherman shares that there are always promotions and savings happening and—with the motto of treating customers like family— Healthy Home Flooring is always looking to provide clients with the best deals possible.
Healthy Home Flooring also does their part to give back to the local community. The company has given back to nonprofit organizations like the Wounded Warrior Project and St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.
Looking toward the future, the flooring experts at Healthy Home Flooring plan to continue to grow their footprint in Scottsdale and across the Valley. “We can’t wait to floor more local residents with our quality products and service,” Sherman says.
To learn more about Healthy Home Flooring, visit healthyhomeflooring.co or call 623-4044444. team of like-minded people, the mission soon became a reality and Healthy Home Flooring was born.
The “Why” Behind Healthy Home Flooring
Healthy Home Flooring began with a young man and a big dream. The owner grew up in the industry and started his career working for Express Flooring, helping it grow into one of the most well-known flooring companies in the U.S. He soon after moved to Detroit where he helped two separate family-owned flooring businesses grow into some of the largest flooring companies in the state. After that experience he decided to move his family back to Arizona where he worked with Empire.
The now industry expert soon realized something that was all too common in the flooring industry—it was all about the sale and everyone was a number rather than a person. There was no real personal touch in the entire industry. That’s when he realized his vision, and that vision became a mission. With a fantastic team of like-minded people, the mission soon became a reality and Healthy Home Flooring was born.
Healthy Home Flooring revolutionized the flooring industry and forever changed the way floors were purchased. The goal was to create a memorable flooring experience that the customer would be proud to share with their family because, after all, Healthy Home Flooring makes the customer feel like family. Everything is about the customer, from getting to know them, finding their perfect product, and making them smile every step of the way. The proof you will find—well that’s in the hearts of their customers’ homes!
Solar Costs Rising for the First Time in a Decade! But There’s Still Time to Lock In Maximum Savings!
By Erick O’Donnell
In times of turmoil and uncertainty, everything can feel as if it’s going either too fast or too slow. We appear to be going through one of those hectic times, with the world rushing toward a carbon-free energy revolution while simultaneously struggling to deliver the equipment needed to make the revolution work.
Snarled supply chains are threatening to jack up the cost of residential solar power at a moment when the worldwide push for green energy has never been fiercer—and when the practical benefits of renewable, dependable power have never been clearer.
Technological innovation and scaled-up production steadily pushed down prices for photovoltaic cells (the main component of solar panels) over the past decade to unprecedented lows, but events are conspiring to push back. Supply-chain slowdowns have driven significant and sustained increases in prices for PV equipment for the first time since Wood Mackenzie started crunching the data in 2014, the energy analyst said earlier this year in a report published in conjunction with the Solar Energy Industries Association. Data from the second quarter of 2021 show a spike in year-over-year equipment costs for all system types (including residential), and the researchers foresee consequences for customers early next year if transport snarls aren’t straightened out soon. As it is, these slowdowns are already driving up costs for raw materials used in panel manufacturing, such as mono-polysilicon and silver, and increased costs for panels are expected to follow.
And that’s not the only raincloud on the horizon. After rising at a steadily increasing rate, home energy prices are set to keep climbing through the rest of the year and throughout 2022 at about a 3.4-percent annual rate, according to a recent projection by the U.S. Energy Information Administration. Financing costs, which track mortgage rates, are expected to rise from their current rate of 1.99 percent APR beginning sometime next year.
Here’s the good news: it’s not too late to take full advantage of the still historically low cost of equipment and financing and secure a great deal on your own personal power plant. Depending on how soon your system is installed, you could even secure your 26 percent federal tax credit in time to use it early next year.
A solar system offers even more financial benefits to your household. As a long-term money-saving asset, a PV array is likely to increase the value of your home, according to the U.S. Department of Energy. Our projections show that the average solar customer can expect to save an estimated $50,000 to $100,000 over a 25-year period. Our customer testimonials show that Sunsolar Solutions is focused on maximizing savings by harnessing the greatest amount of solar energy possible (and, along with it, the greatest tax savings possible). Another major advantage to going solar before the end of the year is that the system will have time to generate the credits needed to knock down next summer’s electricity costs. In the winter and spring months, solar systems in the Valley create a big surplus of power, which is turned into cash credits on the homeowner’s utility account. Those credits are used in the summer months to offset hot-weather usage. If you choose to start your project soon, the system will be installed in time to produce those essential credits.
Even in an era of economic volatility, time can be on your side—that is, if you’re willing to act and leave unnecessary risks behind. Sunsolar Solutions is ready to provide the tools you need to take your energy future into your hands.
Contact Sunsolar Solutions today at 623-562-9009 to have a design prepared for your home free of charge.
You may soon be limited from going solar! Act now before you are locked out!
