John Wick - What You Need To Know about the Corporate Transparency Act
Once Removed Episode 24: Expressing Goals and Intent for the Trust
Once Removed Episode 22: Building Flexibility into the Estate Plan
Once Removed Episode 20: Helping a Beneficiary Purchase a Home
Once Removed Episode 19: The Step-Transaction Doctrine and the Case of Smaldino
Next Generation Legacy Management - The Essence of Developing, Managing and Implementing a Plan for Future Generations
A Primer On Trusts - A Podcast with Janathan Allen
Once Removed Episode 13: It’s 5 o’Clock: Do You Know Where Your Will Is? A Lesson From Aretha Franklin
Charitable Bequests With Guest Stephanie Hood
Once Removed Episode 12: SLATs and the Case of McKim vs. McKim
Once Removed Episode 11: Spousal Lifetime Access Trusts, or SLATs
Digital Planning Podcast Episode: Family Office Technology Solutions
Digital Planning Podcast Episode: The Uniform Electronic Estate Planning Documents Act
What is a self-proving affidavit?
The Importance of Beneficiary Designations
Basics of Estate Planning
The Case of the Disappearing Trust
Protecting Your Estate Plan from Challenges: No-Contest Clause Explained
The Secret Child
Welcome to 'Splitting Heirs'
The TCJA doubled the lifetime exclusion and GST tax exemption. This exclusion amount, adjusted for inflation, is now $13.61 million and is expected to be approximately $13.99 million in 2025. However, in 2026, the amount will...more
Non-Americans who wish to purchase U.S. real estate should be aware of the tax consequences of owning real estate here. George McCormick discusses these tax issues and steps to minimize their impact....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
The number of taxpayers seeking the benefits of Qualified Small Business Stock (“QSBS”) has picked up steam in recent years, particularly since the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (“TCJA”) lowered the federal corporate tax rates to...more
As the ball drops in Times Square on December 31, 2024, many of the tax breaks established by the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) of 2017 will disappear. While the TCJA made some permanent tax cuts, a number of tax cuts and...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 recent Chief Counsel Advice issued by the IRS has been described by one team of estate planning experts as “the most important IRS ruling in a decade,” and it directly contradicts the prior IRS position on the issue. Should...more
Private companies and their owners face ever-evolving challenges as the market sees new regulations, new deal trends, and new risks in 2024. Below are 10 issues that the owners and leaders of privately held companies should...more
There are a lot of very smart tax attorneys out there who are trying to figure out something new, and yet there’s very little innovation. Almost all techniques that we use are incremental variations of an older technique...more
This is The End- I have dreaded the year end for as long as I can remember. As a teenager and then as a young adult I associated the final quarter of the year, and especially the period beginning on Thanksgiving and...more
McDermott’s Private Client Practice led interactive discussions on a broad range of topics pertinent to ultra-high-net-worth families, their family office representatives and other advisors at our Private Client West Coast...more
A strong stock market and “soft landing” have generated significant wealth this year. The gift tax, estate tax and generation-skipping transfer tax are all imposed on the fair market value of assets at the time of transfer....more
Today is the anniversary of the largest Powerball lottery victory in the United States of $2.04 billion. Just over the $1.765 billion jackpot claimed last month (Oct 2023). What are some tax tips for lottery winners and...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
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
A recent tax court case serves as a stern reminder to practitioners that (1) in order for a trust to qualify as a charitable remainder annuity trust (CRAT), the trust’s governing instrument must unambiguously provide for a...more
Summary: Pearl B. Kalikow’s (“Pearl”) husband died in 1990. On January 4, 2006, Pearl passed away. The SK Trust (“Trust”) was created with the remainder of Pearl’s husband’s estate. On Pearl’s husband will it was instructed...more
During 2022, COVID-19, the war in Ukraine, global inflation, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA), the uncertainty about the Build Back Better Act (BBBA), the Corporate Transparency Act (CTA), and the Inflation Reduction Act...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
The year-end is approaching, but you still have time to work on your 2022 tax planning. Consider giving to your favorite charity to make this holiday season merry. Planned charitable giving provides you a way to maximize...more
Rising rates spark interest in charitable remainder trusts - If you wish to leave a charitable legacy while generating income during your lifetime, a charitable remainder trust (CRT) may be a viable solution. In addition...more
Cryptocurrencies are becoming a larger component of investors' portfolios, especially for millennials and Generation Z, who collectively make up 94 percent of cryptocurrency buyers. While it may seemingly be too early for...more
Our annual estate and tax planning newsletter discusses certain concepts and techniques that should be considered in 2022 by our clients and friends in California. Perhaps the most important recent development was the failure...more