Once Removed Episode 18: The Reciprocal Trust Doctrine
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 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
July 2022 Interest Rates for GRATs, Sales to Defective Grantor Trusts, Intra-Family Loans and Split Interest Charitable Trusts AFRs The July applicable federal rate (“AFR”) for use with a sale to a defective grantor trust,...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
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
What You Should Know •The House Ways and Means Committee has approved the tax provisions of President Biden’s Build Back Better Act, a significant first step towards passage. •If passed as drafted, the proposed...more
Last month, the House Ways & Means Committee (the "Committee") approved draft legislation (the “Legislation”) as part of Congress' ongoing $3.5 trillion budget reconciliation process. The Legislation includes significant tax...more
On September 10, 2021, the U.S. House Committee on Ways and Means released a draft of proposed legislation that, if enacted into law, would reduce the estate tax exemption and significantly limit the effectiveness of certain...more
The U.S. House Committee on Ways and Means’ tax proposals would significantly impact estate planning for high net worth individuals if enacted. Gift, estate and GST exemption amounts would be decreased; grantor trusts would...more
The House Committee on Ways and Means has proposed a tax plan intended to fund President Joe Biden's "Build Back Better" $3.5 trillion infrastructure program. Among the many changes in this proposed tax plan are three that...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
On September 13, 2021, the House Ways and Means Committee Chairman announced the Committee’s plan to pay for the $3.5 trillion Build Back Better Act (the “Act”). The Act has measures to combat the climate crisis, create jobs,...more
The House of Representatives Ways and Means Committee Chairman introduced new tax proposals on Monday that would raise more than $2 trillion in tax revenue as part of the Democrats’ effort to roll back the Trump...more
As many people are aware, Congress is considering changes to the federal tax code to support President Biden’s Build Back Better spending plan. As of this writing, on September 22, 2021, no bill has been enacted....more
You have probably heard that the House Ways and Means Committee released proposals for increasing gift and estate taxes in order support legislation being advanced by the Democratic majority in Congress. ...more
Recent news stories have been published about two bills introduced in the Senate that, if enacted, could have a significant impact on many estate plans. These bills include proposed changes that many estate planning...more
With the introduction of the “For the 99.5% Act” proposed by Senator Bernie Sanders, there is an increased likelihood for sweeping federal estate and gift tax reforms occurring during the latter part of 2021. The proposed...more
On March 25, 2021, Senator Bernie Sanders introduced legislation called “For the 99.5% Act.” This bill is aimed at the fortunes of the top 0.5% of wealthy Americans. ...more
Now may be an opportune time to gift assets out of your estate, particularly through an estate planning technique known as the Grantor Retained Annuity Trust (“GRAT“)—a small silver lining of the alarming pandemic and down...more
In the wake of COVID-19, we may see significant statutory changes to the federal estate, gift, and generation-skipping transfer tax exemptions. Spousal Lifetime Access Trusts and other planning techniques provide...more
Income Tax Considerations of Estate Planning Are More Important Than Ever - Gifting assets during life will reduce the size of your taxable estate at death and, correspondingly, reduce your estate tax liability. But with...more
December Interest Rates for GRATs, Sales to Defective Grantor Trusts, Intra-Family Loans and Split Interest Charitable Trusts - The December Section 7520 rate for use with estate planning techniques such as CRTs, CLTs,...more