As one annually services their automobile for an oil change and routine maintenance, it is also prudent to review your trust to confirm that your original documents are consistent with your wishes. At a minimum, one should look at the following provisions of their trust to determine if any changes are required: Successor Trustee – Read the full article…
As calendar year 2022 comes to a close, it is a good time for taxpayers and their advisors to start thinking of planning moves that will help lower their tax bill for this year and possibly the next. This year, we have seen significant financial uncertainty and an inflation rate not seen since the 1980s, Read the full article…
When considering the creation of a will or a trust, one usually thinks about pre-death planning. However, the beneficiaries have an opportunity where post-mortem planning comes into play. Let’s look at an important post-mortem planning tool – the disclaimer. A disclaimer is a refusal to accept an interest in or a power over property – Read the full article…
A Spousal Lifetime Access Trust (SLAT) is a trust established between spouses. Essentially, one spouse gives the other spouse assets in an amount that uses up the unused Federal Estate Tax Exemption. The trust of one spouse must be materially different from the trust of the other spouse. The reciprocal trust doctrine allows the IRS Read the full article…
Since lifetime gift exemption has drastically increased by the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA), which went into effect in 2018, considerably fewer people are subject to estate tax filing. According to the TCJA, for 2022, decedents with an estate valued less than $12,060,000 are not required to file an estate tax return. However, to Read the full article…
