Transferring Wealth
Transferring Wealth For many of us, the ultimate goal of accumulating wealth is to ensure that the people and causes we care about will continue to be provided for after we’re gone. For those with considerable wealth, expert guidance is vital in navigating the complexities of tax laws and financial tools.

Your Baird Financial Advisor has the expertise to ensure your goals are met. More importantly, your advisor will help you define those goals by exploring your philosophies toward your lifestyle, philanthropy and providing for your children. This careful listening forms the basis of diligent analysis. Your advisor, working with Baird’s team of world-class specialists, will explore options ranging from various trust mechanisms to family foundations, all while maximizing tax efficiency.

Your advisor then works with your tax and legal advisors to establish and carry out your strategy – providing the most advantageous financial position while providing continuity and oversight to ensure your wishes are met.

Range of Complex Tools
Good estate planning, especially for those with significant wealth, requires a clear understanding of many complex tools and how they work together, both today and in the future. Our experts can help you understand the full span of strategies, from the most common to more sophisticated solutions for complex needs: 
  • A revocable living trust, like a will, ensures the orderly distribution of assets after your death, but has certain advantages, including the fact that it passes outside of probate.
  • A charitable remainder trust (CRT) is often used to reduce tax liabilities on highly appreciated assets. A CRT provides income to non-charity beneficiaries before ultimately conveying its assets to a charity.
  • A CRT used in conjunction with an irrevocable life insurance trust can replace the donated asset with life insurance proceeds for your heirs.
  • A charitable lead trust (CLD) is a split-interest trust like a CRT, but it is suited for those with assets that have potential for significant appreciation in the future. It pays income to a charitable beneficiary for a defined time frame or until your death, after which the assets in the trust become the property of non-charity beneficiaries.
  • A family trust, or credit shelter trust, allows you to capture your full estate tax exemption even when your assets are first passed to a surviving spouse before ultimately passing to your children.
  • A gift trust can ensure income for children or grandchildren, and can be a great way to provide for a child with special needs.
  • A family foundation will not only allow for a tax-advantaged bequest, but can also bring your children together in a spirit of charity.
  • Grantor retained annuity trusts and qualified personal residence trusts can reduce taxes for those with very large estates.
  • Family limited partnerships, though complex, provide another tool for significant tax-savings for the very wealthy, when expertly structured.
Considerations at Any Age
Comprehensive estate planning considers many factors beyond these financial tools. Wills, health care directives, durable powers of attorney and business succession planning should be in place at the same time you consider financial and tax strategies. As with most things, the younger you are when you establish these plans, the better.

Understanding Your Options
Baird’s estate planning specialists complement their extensive expertise with an understanding of what’s important to you. With this knowledge, they use advanced software to generate customized scenarios, illustrating the effects of the wide range of estate planning tools at their disposal. Our tax experts can also prepare a customized estate plan analysis that highlights opportunities to minimize estate taxes and income taxes.

While Baird advisors do not provide tax or legal counsel, they can work closely with your attorney and other professional advisors to help you transfer your wealth in the way that’s best for you.

Baird can help develop an estate plan that addresses your wishes – with an eye toward leaving a legacy that will extend your accomplishments into future generations.
Contact a Baird Financial Advisor
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