The Impact of One Big Beautiful Bill on Estate Planning
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
President Donald Trump signed a massive budget bill last month – the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” (OBBBA) – and it significantly impacts non-profits and tax-exempt organizations. While some of the new changes may be...more
The recently enacted One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) brings sweeping and permanent changes to the federal estate, gift and generation-skipping transfer (GST) tax landscape. Most notably, it significantly increases the...more
The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (“TCJA”), which was signed into law on December 22, 2017, made some of the most significant changes to the tax law since the Tax Reform Act of 1986. Absent further legislation, many of the provisions...more
In this second installment of our multi-part series on the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (the “Act”), my colleague David Knutson and I discuss the changes made by the Act to the federal estate and gift tax regime....more
The new tax cut and spending bill known as the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” which was signed into law on July 4, 2025, increases federal estate, gift, and generation-skipping transfer (“GST”) tax exemptions to $15 million...more
On May 9, 2025, the House Ways & Means Committee released its initial draft of President Trump’s “big, beautiful bill.” The bill will set the stage for extending the tax cuts enacted in 2017 as part of President Trump’s first...more
On January 17, 2025, multiple news outlets and other sources reported the existence of a memorandum circulated by the U.S. House of Representatives Budget Committee to the House Republican Caucus (the “Memorandum”) containing...more
The IRS recently issued the 2025 annual adjustments for numerous tax provisions, including changes to tax brackets and standard deductions. Popular adjustments include: - Estates of decedents who die during 2025 will have...more
New York has an “estate tax cliff,” which can result in heirs paying New York estate tax at a rate exceeding 100%. The current per-person NYS estate tax exemption is $6.94 million, which is the amount you can leave to your...more
The long-awaited Massachusetts tax reform package was signed by Governor Maura Healey on Wednesday, October 4, 2023. Among the provisions: Estate Tax Reform: Establishes a non-refundable credit of $99,600 for each estate,...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
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
Let the taxpayer beware: the recently proposed “For the 99.5 Percent Act” introduced by Senators Bernie Sanders and Sheldon Whitehouse would radically limit the ability of parents or grandparents to make annual exclusion...more
We recently wrote about a window of opportunity to take advantage of the rising estate and gift tax exemption before it sets. It is becoming clearer that the window may be shutting fast. The opportunity to take advantage...more
Potential Acceleration of Federal Estate Tax Exemption Decrease and Increase of Income Tax Rates - Now that the votes have been counted and our government has transitioned to a new administration, significant tax changes...more
Proposition 19, which will be on California’s November 2020 ballot, dramatically changes the property tax rules exempting certain intra-family transfers and primary residence transactions for certain individuals such as those...more
We hope this newsletter finds you and your loved ones safe and healthy. We previously noted that the coronavirus "lock down" is causing many of our clients to re-think their existing estate plans. In the past, certain estate...more
On November 26, 2019, the Treasury Department and the IRS issued final regulations under IR-2019-189 confirming that there will be no “clawback” for gifts made under the increased estate and gift tax exclusion put in place by...more
In 2019, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (the Act) and its resulting tax reform continued to dominate the planning landscape. As outlined in our 2018 Year-End Estate Planning Advisory, the Act made significant changes to individual...more
The federal estate tax exemption is now $11.4 million per person ($22.8 million/couple), and the New York State estate tax exemption is now $5,740,000 per person. Generally, the exemption amount is the value of assets that...more
Federal Transfer Taxes - The Internal Revenue Service has announced the annual inflation adjustments for the 2019 tax year... Federal unified gift and estate tax exclusion increasing to $11,400,000: As of January 1,...more
Through no fault of the Connecticut General Assembly, in late 2017 our newly increased Connecticut estate and gift tax exemptions were partially affected by the 2017 Federal Tax Act, commonly known as the Tax Cuts and Jobs...more
While many businesses and individuals will see a lower tax bill as a result of the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, charitable organizations may ultimately be the biggest losers from the sweeping tax reform. The Tax Act includes...more
The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 (the “Act”) was signed into law by the President on December 22, 2017, and represents one of the most significant rewritings of the federal tax code since 1986. ...more
The 2017 tax reform legislation colloquially referred to as the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (the Act) made some significant changes in the taxation of individuals, and these changes have already begun to generate new planning...more