Top Gun: Maverick - Core Estate Plan and Gifting Basics
Once Removed Episode 19: The Step-Transaction Doctrine and the Case of Smaldino
Once Removed Episode 17: Annual Gifting to Individuals: Options, Opportunities and Pitfalls
Taking the Sting Out of Death Taxes with Dylan Metzner, Jones & Keller
HEAVEN CAN WAIT
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
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 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
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
The COVID-19 virus, or Coronavirus, has thrown the world in to a tailspin. Businesses have closed their doors, once crowded streets are deserted and people are self-isolating in their homes. During this crisis, there are...more
The Generation-Skipping Transfer (“GST”) tax is designed to prevent taxpayers from avoiding estate tax on a child’s inheritance at the child’s death by “skipping” inheritances over children to grandchildren. Each person...more
There have been a number of significant estate planning developments in 2018 which will help clients prepare for 2019. The historically high increased exemption amounts for gift, estate and generation-skipping transfer...more
The music world was left mourning the death of another legend recently with the passing of the Queen of Soul, Aretha Franklin. A woman with a voice full of power and emotion, her death leaves a musical landscape with few (if...more
In This Issue: - Alternate valuation date: Flexible postmortem planning a plus when markets are volatile - The write stuff: A letter of instructions - Making the most of your GST tax exemption - Estate...more
The October § 7520 rate for use with estate planning techniques such as CRTs, CLTs, QPRTs and GRATs is 2.4%. This is up from September's 2.0% rate. The applicable federal rate ("AFR") for use with a sale to a defective...more