Estate Conservation Workshop

Estate conservation will be the topic of a workshop presented by Joan Bouchard, CLU, ChFC, on Monday, May 14, from 6 to 8 pm, in the board room of Cyrenius H. Booth Library.

Because many people do not make adequate preparations to preserve and protect assets, many estates are settled in ways that were not intended. Because of that, heirs may receive a diminished inheritance.

Consider these facts:

*An estate may be subject to federal estate tax rates as high as 55 percent.

*Probate and administrative fees can consume another ten percent of an estate.

*If a person does not have a will, probate can tie up the estate for several years.

*Heirs may be forced to use their inheritance to pay estate taxes.

*Unless a guardian is designated, the court may decide guardianship of minor children.

Good financial management can help avoid many of these problems. By using proven strategies, it can be ensured that heirs will inherit more of the property, cash investments, savings, and business interests that were intended to them. Such advance management can also decide who will be the executor of an estate and the guardian of minor children.

Those attending the estate conservation workshop will receive a free 20-page workbook which contains information, exercises and questions to help make sound decisions about preserving an estate. For reservations, call 203-797-1203.