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The Estate Planning Foundation, Inc., was created to provide the type of insurance products that are necessary parts of proper estate planning. These products are provided on a General Agency basis, and do not come from any one single company or source. The chief purpose of the Foundation is to coordinate the implementation of these products with an estate plan provided by an attorney. The laws and regulations governing the passing of estates from one generation to the next are complex. Uncoordinated plans frequently fail to achieve their goals. For example, the death benefit, not the cash value of a life insurance policy, is included in the estate of the decedent. The death benefit can then be subject to federal estate tax rates exceeding 50%. If, before death, the insured places a policy he or she owns into an Irrevocable Life Insurance Trust (ILIT), and does not die within three years of doing so, the death benefit passes to his or her heirs outside the estate and therefore avoids federal estate taxation. However, if the insured/owner of the policy dies within three years of placing the policy into the ILIT, the death benefits will be included in the estate and be taxed accordingly. All too often, in the past, policies have been purchased at the suggestion of an Estate Planning Attorney, issued to the insured, and then placed into an ILIT. If the insured then dies within three years, the plan fails. The Estate Planning Foundation, Inc., coordinates the issuance of the insurance policy and the execution of the ILIT to make certain that the policy is issued in the name of the ILIT, so that the insured is never afforded any incidents of ownership I the policy. This precaution will cause the policy proceeds to flow to the insured's beneficiaries outside the estate and avoid federal inheritance taxes.

There are even greater potential stumbling blocks in establishing a charitable Remainder Trust (CRT). The Foundation is aware of the dangers, and diligently strives to insure that the CRT is established and funded so that it will pass all tests.

The Estate Planning Foundation sponsors all of the workshops currently presented by Florida Attorney, J. Mark Fisher. The Estate Planning Foundation, Inc., is represented in the Panhandle of Florida by Charles W. Fisher, CFP. Mr. James M. Smith is the Foundation representative in the rest of the State.