Once Removed Episode 18: The Reciprocal Trust Doctrine
Earlier this week the White House released its Fiscal Year 2025 Budget. Of course, the federal government has not yet adopted a budget for the Fiscal Year 2024 even as we approach that year’s halfway mark. But I digress. The...more
A Beneficiary Intentionally Defective Irrevocable Trust (BIDIT) provides a unique planning opportunity because it allows a beneficiary to continue to benefit from his or her own assets while maintaining some level of control...more
Thanks to a generous federal gift and estate tax exemption amount ($13.61 million for 2024), only the wealthiest of families are exposed to estate tax liability. For many, this means that estate planning now has a stronger...more
The Budget and Accounting Act of 1921 established the requirement that the President submit a budget to Congress for the upcoming fiscal year. Among other things, the proposed federal budget affords the President an...more
“Déjà vu All Over Again”- The White House last week released the President’s Budget for the Fiscal Year 2023. The Budget is ambitious, but its “investments,” we are told, “are more than paid for with tax reforms focused on...more
It was quite a week, wasn’t it?- Manchin- Senator Manchin continued to attract a lot of attention. To the dismay of his fellow Democrats, the West Virginian – who also chairs the Senate Energy and Natural Resources...more
In this second blog post on the House Ways and Means Tax proposals, we address the proposed changes that will affect the taxation of trusts, estates, and retirement plans. As we discussed, on September 13, 2021, the...more
What you need to know: On September 13, 2021, the House Ways and Means Committee released its proposed tax plan to fund President Biden’s $3.5 trillion “Build Back Better” social and economic spending package. If enacted as...more
It is said that two things are certain in life: death and taxes. True, but incomplete. What is missing from this short list is a third inevitable occurrence – tax law changes. We now have a new and pressing series of proposed...more
First Step- Last Wednesday, the House Ways and Means Committee approved that portion of the 2022 budget legislation with which it was tasked by the Congressional Budget resolution of August 24. The text of the bill...more
Happy New Year? Ask anyone outside the United States what comes to mind when they think about an American New Year’s celebration, and the odds are pretty good they will mention the ball drop in New York City’s Times Square. ...more
Top Ten Estate Planning Recommendations before the End of 2020 - If you have not already been inundated with invitations to webinars, articles and newsletters regarding the estate planning you should consider doing before...more
Creating an education legacy - For many people, an important goal of estate planning is to leave a legacy for their children, grandchildren and future generations. And what better way to do that than to help provide for...more
Because of the increases to the income tax rates and the reduction in the estate tax rates in recent years, anyone holding appreciated assets in a grantor trust should consider exchanging high-basis assets that have less...more
Now that a deal averting the fiscal cliff has finally been reached, many of the tax and planning issues that have been mired in uncertainty for the past two years (and even longer in some cases) may be resolved. Numerous tax...more
In the final hour of January 1, 2013, Congress passed The American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012 (the "Act"), which in part addressed the dramatic sunset of favorable federal estate, gift and generation-skipping tax exemption...more