Law Brief: Alexis Gruttadauria and Rich Schoenstein Discuss Why You Need an Estate Plan
As we’ve previously discussed, portability is an important feature of an estate plan. Portability allows the surviving spouse to die to “save” any of their predeceased spouse’s unused federal estate and gift exemption amount....more
In the technology world, portability has become increasingly important as people become more mobile and reliant on a variety of devices to access and use information. Portability allows individuals to work remotely or while...more
Every U.S. citizen may gift, during life or at death, assets to his or her children free of federal estate or gift tax up to an aggregate amount – frequently called the “exemption amount.” The exemption amount in 2021 is...more
The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act provides greater flexibility in estate planning for many taxpayers. So, no more estate tax worries for most people, right? Not so fast. For residents of some states, state estate or inheritance taxes...more
Somewhat lost in the clamor of the tax changes enacted by the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act is the fact that the new law preserves the “portability” provision for married couples. Portability allows an estate to elect to permit the...more
Many of you have heard of the new Federal estate tax “portability” rule that allows a surviving spouse to effectively inherit any unused federal estate tax exemption of a predeceased spouse. An individual can only use the...more
December Interest Rates for GRATs, Sales to Defective Grantor Trusts, Intra-Family Loans and Split Interest Charitable Trusts - The December § 7520 rate for use with estate planning techniques such as CRTs, CLTs, QPRTs...more
Computers and phones aren’t the only things that are portable today. The gift and estate tax exemption is also “portable” for married couples. Portability simplifies estate planning by allowing a surviving spouse to use the...more
When the President signed the American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012, some observers thought that certain provisions would sound the death knell for a popular legal tax shelter strategy known as Credit Shelter Trusts (CST)....more
As we have discussed in previous newsletters, the concept of “portability” introduced in 2012 allows a surviving spouse to use the unused federal estate tax exemption of the first spouse to die, but only if a federal estate...more
The revenue portion of the recently passed Executive Budget for 2014–2015 significantly changes New York’s estate tax and the way in which New York taxes the income of certain trusts. ...more
On March 21, Minnesota made multiple gift tax and estate tax revisions. Those include: - Retroactively repealing the Minnesota gift tax that had been imposed since July 1, 2013...more
When discussing your estate planning needs with your attorney, after you discuss basic terms and concepts, your attorney will likely talk to you about the different types of revocable living trusts that may be appropriate for...more
Two significant events in 2013 underscored the nexus of marriage and taxes that make it possible for many couples to radically simplify their estate planning. ...more
As discussed in a prior post, one of the helpful provisions recently added to federal estate tax law allows a surviving spouse to use any “leftover” or “unused” federal estate tax exclusion amount of a deceased spouse. The...more
The new estate laws are challenging to comply with and will require most high net worth individuals to review their existing plan. One of the major issues is how the trust is divided on the death of the first spouse, and who...more
In This Issue: - Exemption portability: Should you rely on it? - Decant a trust to add trustee flexibility - Using the GST tax exemption to build a dynasty - Estate Planning Red Flag: Your plan includes a...more