Overall, our objective is to assure that the client’s assets get to their intended recipients with minimal delay and, minimal, if any, Federal and/or State inheritance or estate taxes. Though DFS does not offer legal advice, we help enable a path to successfully reaching this objective by coordinating investment and tax components of an estate plan with the advice and service that attorneys provide.

In addition to the three ways clients can support the objective: having ownership of deeded assets properly structured, keeping accurate and up-to-date beneficiaries on financial accounts, and providing a current will to their estate’s executor, DFS can help plan the use of trusts to avoid potential delays and expenses of probate , as well as provide planning that may be beneficial in reducing estate taxes.