Today, October 4, 2023, Governor Healey signed into law major tax legislation that includes estate tax relief, closing a loophole around the newly implemented millionaire’s tax, short-term capital gains tax cuts and more....more
On September 26, 2023, Massachusetts leaders announced major tax legislation that includes estate tax relief, closing a loophole around the newly implemented millionaire’s tax, short-term capital gains tax cuts and more. It...more
10/2/2023
/ Capital Gains ,
Corporate Taxes ,
Estate Planning ,
Income Taxes ,
Payroll Taxes ,
Pending Legislation ,
Property Tax ,
Sales Tax ,
State Taxes ,
Tax Planning ,
Tax Relief
On April 13, the Massachusetts House of Representatives approved H.3770, a tax reform bill that includes significant changes for individuals, businesses and estates. The bill is now with the Senate’s Ways and Means Committee,...more
5/12/2023
/ Apportionment ,
Capital Gains ,
Capital Gains Tax ,
Corporate Taxes ,
Estate Tax ,
Income Taxes ,
Pending Legislation ,
State Budgets ,
State Taxes ,
Tax Credits ,
Tax Planning ,
Tax Reform
The COVID-19 pandemic has created a dilemma for many people: it has made them nervous and eager to create or update their estate planning documents, while making their completion difficult. Sheltering in place and social...more
In a previous newsletter, we recently heralded the passage of the “Connecticut Qualified Dispositions in Trust Act”, which permits the creation and establishment of self-settled domestic asset protection trusts (“DAPTs”). To...more
9/12/2019
/ Annuities ,
Asset Protection ,
Capital Gains ,
Creditors ,
Distribution Rules ,
Domestic Asset Protection Trust (DAPT) ,
Estate Planning ,
Grantor Trusts ,
Income Taxes ,
Trustees ,
Trusts
With just minutes to spare, a bill modernizing many aspects of Connecticut’s trust laws passed the Senate on June 5th, and is on its way to Governor Lamont for signature.
House Bill 7104: contains Connecticut’s version of...more
Until last week, the Connecticut General Assembly appeared very close to relieving Connecticut of the distinction of being the only state that imposes a gift tax. However, it seems Connecticut will carry that mantle for the...more
Through no fault of the Connecticut General Assembly, in late 2017 our newly increased Connecticut estate and gift tax exemptions were partially affected by the 2017 Federal Tax Act, commonly known as the Tax Cuts and Jobs...more
Until the passage of the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, the federal applicable exclusion amount for the estate of a person dying in 2018 was scheduled to be $5.6M. The federal applicable exclusion amount sets (i) the applicable...more
Yahoo! On October 16, 2017, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court issued its long-awaited decision in Ajemian v. Yahoo!, Inc. (“Yahoo”), http://bit.ly/2zuW1T9, interpreting the federal Stored Communications Act (the “SCA”)...more
The combined value of all of the 867 crypto currencies tracked by CoinMarketCap.com is presently over $161 billion. Only seven years ago, on what is commemorated as “Bitcoin Pizza Day,” Bitcoin, then a new crypto currency,...more
9/11/2017
/ Beneficiaries ,
Bitcoin ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Digital Currency ,
Email ,
Estate Planning ,
IRS ,
Popular ,
Probate ,
Securities ,
Trustees ,
Trusts ,
UFADAA ,
Virtual Currency
In May, I posted about “Estate Planning in the Digital Age” and mentioned the practical limitations of shared passwords as a means of digital estate planning. Recent cases suggest that relying only on password sharing, even...more
Effective October 1, 2016 Connecticut will have finally updated its 1965 law governing Powers of Attorney (POA’s). The new law, called the Connecticut Uniform Power of Attorney Act, or “CT UPOAA”, makes many changes that...more
One reality of modern life is our increasing reliance on digital information and services. It’s difficult to take and then order prints of photographs, accumulate travel rewards, book travel, sort through financial records,...more
5/6/2016
/ Custodians ,
Digital Assets ,
Encryption ,
Estate Planning ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Passwords ,
Power of Attorney ,
Probate Code ,
Social Media ,
Terms of Service ,
Trusts ,
Wills
Special needs trusts are established to hold and protect the assets of a beneficiary who has some type of mental, physical or intellectual disability. It is like other trusts, but contains additional provisions to ensure...more
4/26/2016