Once Removed Episode 19: The Step-Transaction Doctrine and the Case of Smaldino
Once Removed Episode 18: The Reciprocal Trust Doctrine
Once Removed Episode 16: Gift and Estate Tax, Inflation Adjustments for 2024
Once Removed Episode 17: Annual Gifting to Individuals: Options, Opportunities and Pitfalls
To Give or Not to Give: Considerations for Year-End Gifting
Following changes to the federal estate tax law in 2010 – which eliminated the need for separate trusts for married couples to use both spouses’ federal estate tax exemptions – Missouri enacted a new law in 2011 authorizing...more
In our inaugural episode of The Inside Basis, Randy Clark is joined by Sarah Bowman, one of our estate planning and trust administration lawyers, and Lauren Anderson, a wealth advisor at J.P. Morgan Private Bank, to discuss...more
This year was busy for trusts and estates practitioners. With 2025 marking the final year of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA), many of its implications for federal corporate and individual income tax, gift, estate and...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
Because each donor is treated as a separate party for tax and other purposes, donors often involve others in making gifts. For example, a donor might transfer assets to his or her spouse, so the spouse actually makes the gift...more
Actor Will Rogers is widely credited with stating that “the only difference between death and taxes is that death doesn’t get worse every time Congress meets.” While most taxpayers fear tax laws changing for the worse, estate...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
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
...The federal tax laws are certainly about to change. With the need to raise revenue as a top priority for the Biden Administration, everyone is expecting dramatic changes to the Internal Revenue Code. Tax legislation is...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
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
Presented by Cohen Seglias attorney Whitney Patience O'Reilly on December 15, 2020. As we approach the end of the year, individuals face decisions about whether or not to gift money and the potential ramifications for any...more
In 2020, COVID-19, the US presidential election, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (the TCJA), and the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act (the CARES ACT) dominated the planning landscape....more
Peter, Paul, and Mary have done well for themselves. Each has a nice home, a seasonal residence, and a large IRA. Coincidentally, each also has an additional $11 million worth of real estate, savings, brokerage accounts, and...more
Many estate planning provisions of the Internal Revenue Code contain brackets, exemptions, exclusions, deductions, or other figures that the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) adjusts annually for inflation. Recently, the IRS...more
The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (Act), passed at the end of 2017 by Congress and signed into law by President Trump on December 22, 2017, provides far-reaching changes to the federal tax landscape. Much has been written regarding...more
Many people sign a will and assume they never need to look at it again. As lawyers, we prepare wills that are flexible and deal with multiple possible (even if unlikely) scenarios, but sometimes an unanticipated change and an...more
In 2016, we continued to experience a period of relative stability in our federal transfer tax system and have been able to plan without expecting imminent significant changes to the system. Under the American Taxpayer Relief...more
I. INTRODUCTION - This outline is a selective and evolving review of the history of the modern federal estate tax. It originated during the attempts to repeal the estate tax in President Clinton’s second term and...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