Once Removed Episode 19: The Step-Transaction Doctrine and the Case of Smaldino
Once Removed Episode 18: The Reciprocal Trust Doctrine
Charitable Planning With Guest Stephanie Hood: Navigating Complex Rules and Traps for the Unwary
Once Removed Episode 16: Gift and Estate Tax, Inflation Adjustments for 2024
Once Removed Episode 17: Annual Gifting to Individuals: Options, Opportunities and Pitfalls
Once Removed Episode 12: SLATs and the Case of McKim vs. McKim
Once Removed Episode 11: Spousal Lifetime Access Trusts, or SLATs
Once Removed Episode 10: Trustee Removal and Case Update on Leo Kahn Revocable Trust
(A)ESOP's Fables - The Income and Estate Tax-Free ESOP
The Renoir Spelling Bee
Taking the Sting Out of Death Taxes with Dylan Metzner, Jones & Keller
RETURN TO FOREVER - What Game Shall We Play Today?
To Give or Not to Give: Considerations for Year-End Gifting
INTRODUCING MALTA SPLIT DOLLAR
THE PAPER CHASE
With a Little Help from My Friends
The Greatest Gift: Your Individual + Family Estate Plan
On this episode of “Splitting Heirs,” Warren K. Racusin welcomes back Sharon L. Klein, President of Family Wealth for the Eastern US Region of Wilmington Trust Company and member of the Estate Planning Hall of Fame, to...more
Financial markets, political moods, and the world-at-large can take us on a roller coaster ride of ups and downs. But savvy investors (and their estate planning counsel) know that – in the end – neither the bears nor bulls...more
The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 provided major changes to the Internal Revenue Code, specifically doubling the federal estate, gift, and generation-skipping transfer (GST) tax exemption (collectively, the exemption) from...more
This CLE/CPE webinar will provide estate planners insight on recently issued IRS guidance regarding basis adjustments for irrevocable grantor trusts. The panelist will discuss key items and challenges stemming from Revenue...more
This podcast often discusses the elements of a trust, and how to grant access, control and flexibility to beneficiaries and trustees. But for tax and other purposes, the donor typically cannot retain those kinds of powers. ...more
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
Until recently, there was a fair amount of comfort amongst practitioners that, when structured correctly, utilizing a tax reimbursement clause for a grantor trust did not produce any negative U.S. gift or estate tax results....more
Although the IRS is now on high alert for wealthy individuals, new and existing planning opportunities are available, such as tax-free gifts and other advantageous planning. Wealthy individuals and families should take...more
May 2023 Interest Rates for GRATs, Sales to Defective Grantor Trusts, Intra-Family Loans and Split-Interest Charitable Trusts - The May Section 7520 rate for use in estate planning techniques such as CRTs, CLTs, QPRTs and...more
In a recently-issued Revenue Ruling (Rev Rul 2023-02), the IRS has held that the basis of the assets in an irrevocable grantor trust, where the assets are not included in the grantor’s gross estate for federal estate tax...more
The April Section 7520 rate for use with estate planning techniques such as CRTs, CLTs, QPRTs and GRATs is 5.0%. The April applicable federal rate (“AFR”) for use with a sale to a defective grantor trust or intra-family loan...more
On March 20, 2023, Senators Warren, Sanders, Van Hollen, and Whitehouse addressed a letter to Treasury Secretary Yellen in which they urged Yellen “to use [her] existing authority to limit the ultra-wealthy’s abuse of trusts...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
A family vacation home offers an escape from the stresses of everyday life, and an opportunity for bonding. Parents return to their vacation homes year after year, creating memories with their children and grandchildren. If...more
Trusts come in many variations, rendering them often difficult for non-attorneys to follow and comprehend. Indeed, this variation can often be seen in the nomenclature used for trust arrangements, which includes terms such...more
Leveraging QPRTs in a High Interest Rate Environment - A Qualified Personal Residence Trust, or “QPRT” is a planning strategy specifically authorized in the Internal Revenue Code that allows an individual to remove a...more
Some folks eagerly await the release of a new album. Others camp outside of big box retailers to get the jump on holiday gifts. There are those who line up at box offices to purchase tickets for a concert that is months away....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
October 2022 Interest Rates for GRATs, Sales to Defective Grantor Trusts, Intra-Family Loans and Split Interest Charitable Trusts - The October applicable federal rate ("AFR") for use with a sale to a defective grantor...more
The June Section 7520 rate for use with estate planning techniques such as CRTs, CLTs, QPRTs and GRATs is 3.6%, an increase from the May rate of 3.0%. The June applicable federal rate (“AFR”) for use with a sale to a...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
Under the Internal Revenue Code’s “grantor trust” rules, the grantor of a trust may be treated as the “owner” of all or part of the trust. As such, the grantor is taxed on the trust’s income and reports its deductions...more
You likely are aware, from the news and our prior communications, that Congress currently is considering proposals that may have a significant impact on many estate plans. Although we still cannot be certain which, if any, of...more