Law Brief: Alexis Gruttadauria and Rich Schoenstein Discuss Why You Need an Estate Plan
What is known as the IRS survivor’s penalty, and is there anything that can be done to provide for a surviving spouse as we age? The “survivor’s penalty” is the likelihood that a surviving spouse will face higher federal and...more
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
It’s not enough for the founder of a closely held business to have successfully established the business. The business has to grow, not only to increase profits, but also to make it more competitive and to diversify its...more
Death of a Parent- In the context of a family-owned business, it is often the case that the matriarch or patriarch of the family is also the chief executive of the business. They may have founded the business, or they may...more
Despite ultimately finding in favor of a taxpayer surviving spouse, IRS Private Letter Ruling 2023-22-014 (the “PLR”) is chock-full of reasons to ensure proper planning is in place when it comes to IRAs....more
The Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2023 (“Appropriations Act”) was signed by President Biden and became law on December 29, 2022. Included in the Appropriations Act is the SECURE 2.0 Act of 2022 (“Secure Act”), which...more
The Key Person- The closely held corporation is often a fragile creature. Too often, its continued success and well-being are overly dependent upon the continued involvement of one individual – namely, the founder and...more
In response to Internal Revenue Code Section 2001(g)(2), enacted as part of the 2017 Tax Act, in which the Secretary of the Treasury was directed to prescribe regulations to carry out IRC Section 2001(g) with respect to the...more
The death of a loved one or close friend is a traumatic experience. In addition to the emotional anguish, those who are charged with dealing with the decedent’s personal and financial affairs following death are often left...more
October Interest Rates for GRATs, Sales to Defective Grantor Trusts, Intra-Family Loans and Split Interest Charitable Trusts - The October § 7520 rate for use with estate planning techniques such as CRTs, CLTs, QPRTs and...more
When the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act was passed, significant changes were made to the Federal Estate, Gift and Generation-Skipping Transfer Tax, the most prominent of which is the increased applicable exclusion amount, which...more
The Consumer Price Index was released by the Labor Department in August 2017. Not everyone anxiously awaits the release of these numbers but the experts have now made estimates of how they will impact estate, gift, and...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
Internal Revenue Service Temporarily Holding Off on Issuing New Regulations - The Internal Revenue Service is temporarily holding off on issuing new rules while evaluating the impact of executive orders from President...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
September Interest Rates for GRATs, Sales to Defective Grantor Trusts, Intra-Family Loans and Split Interest Charitable Trusts - The September § 7520 rate for use with estate planning techniques such as CRTs, CLTs, QPRTs...more
June Interest Rates for GRATs, Sales to Defective Grantor Trusts, Intra-Family Loans and Split Interest Charitable Trusts The June § 7520 rate for use with estate planning techniques such as CRTs, CLTs, QPRTs and GRATs...more
November Interest Rates for GRATs, Sales to Defective Grantor Trusts, Intra-Family Loans and Split Interest Charitable Trusts - The November Section 7520 rate for use with estate planning techniques such as CRTs, CLTs,...more
In the summer of 2013, the Supreme Court issued a decision in U.S. v. Windsor, striking down a key provision of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) and eliminating the requirement that federal law recognize only marriages...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
On Wednesday, 26 June 2013, the US Supreme Court ruled that Section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act (“DOMA”), which limits the definition of “marriage” to “a legal union between one man and one woman as husband and wife” and...more