Choosing a Trustee: Navigating the Complexities and Key Considerations
Law School Toolbox Podcast Episode 509: Listen and Learn -- Third-Party Rights in Contracts (Part 2 - Beneficiaries)
Law School Toolbox Podcast Episode 508: Listen and Learn -- Third-Party Rights in Contracts (Part 1 - Rules)
Mamma Mia!: Common Estate Planning Issues for Blended Families
Once Removed Episode 38: The Legacy Mindset: What It Is and How to Build It
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 23: Naming Guardians for Minor Children
Once Removed Episode 22: Building Flexibility into the Estate Plan
Once Removed Episode 20: Helping a Beneficiary Purchase a Home
Life After Love Gone Wrong Podcast: Season 3, Episode 6 - Reshaping Your Legacy: Estate Planning After Your Divorce
Charitable Planning With Guest Stephanie Hood: Navigating Complex Rules and Traps for the Unwary
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
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
Minnesota is implementing changes to the laws that govern trusts, estates, and powers of attorney, with most of the changes effective August 1, 2025. These legislative updates modernize long-standing rules, streamline the...more
Key Takeaways - 1. The Act permanently extends the doubled gift, estate, and generation-skipping tax exclusion amount to $15 million per individual and $30 million per married couple, indexed for inflation. 2. The Act...more
"God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, and wisdom to know the difference."- The Serenity Prayer- The first 100 days of President Trump’s administration have been...more
The May 2025 Section 7520 rate for use with estate planning techniques such as CRTs, CLTs, QPRTs and GRATs is 5.00%, which is the same as the April 2025 Section 7520 rate...more
Springtime is a great time to review your current estate plan or consider creating one. This year brings a number of opportunities for creating an estate plan, pursuing gifting strategies, and considering philanthropic...more
As widely reported, the coming years will likely see a significant transfer of assets and wealth across generations. Each family's circumstances will ultimately determine the nature and extent of these transfers, and any...more
You likely have created revocable or irrevocable trusts, or a few of both, in your estate plan. Ideally, these have been properly drafted with plenty of flexibility so that they can continue to meet your wealth planning goals...more
The arrival of 2025 brings with it increased estate and gift exclusion amounts. For an estate of any decedent dying during calendar year 2025, the Federal applicable exemption will increase from $13.61 million to $13.99...more
With the end of the year quickly approaching, now is good time to ensure you make your annual exclusion gifts for the year to reduce your taxable estate. For 2024, an individual can give $18,000 (and a married couple...more
The "big ticket" item of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) is the significant increase to the lifetime gift, estate and generation-skipping tax (GST) tax exemptions. Under the TCJA, the exemptions were increased from $5...more
How was your Thanksgiving? I hope you celebrated the holiday in a pleasant setting with folks whose company you enjoyed, and with plenty of good food. I hope you participated in some interesting conversations or joined in...more
A key benefit to families with taxable estates may be about to go away. The Tax Reform Act of 2017 incorporated numerous tax reductions into U.S. law, with one significantly increasing the ability of taxable estate owners to...more
Today’s federal estate and gift tax laws may be remembered as the most generous to wealthy families since the Great Depression. The 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) doubled the federal estate, gift, and generation skipping...more
HBO’s The Gilded Age dramatizes the privileged lives of some of America’s wealthiest families in late 19th century New York City. In U.S. history, the Gilded Age covers the 1870s to the late 1890s. Rapid economic growth...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
The federal gift, estate and generation-skipping transfer (GST) tax exemptions for 2024 are historically high and present significant tax-free gifting opportunities next year.The gift and estate tax exemptions will increase...more
As the year is drawing to a close, we offer you some general advice regarding year-end planning and updated inflation-adjusted figures for 2023. Annual Exclusion Gifts - In 2022, the annual exclusion amount is $16,000...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 services following the death of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II might have many of us thinking about our own estate planning. One striking piece of information about Her Majesty was that she had planned out many...more
Privity to Sue- Yeager v. U.S. Bank, 1st Dist. Hamilton No. C-200262, 2021-Ohio-1972 In this appeal, the First Appellate District affirmed in part as modified, reversed in part, and remanded the trial court’s decision....more
With Democrats gaining control of the White House, the House of Representatives, and, albeit somewhat tenuously, the Senate, there is a growing possibility of legislative changes to the federal estate tax laws to fulfill...more
Under the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, in 2020 each person may transfer up to $11,580,000 without incurring a gift or estate tax. This generous exemption amount will sunset at the end of 2025, which means that in 2026, the...more
The election is only weeks away, and with it is likely to come significant changes to the tax code. Many economists anticipate that, regardless of the outcome, there will likely be tax increases to reduce the federal deficit,...more
Nowotny On Death and Taxes podcast episode #24, discusses using the Loan Method of Split Dollar in the After-Life!...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