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Trusts Protectors: A Concept Whose Time Has Come
In the evolution over the last 50 to 60 years of trusts in a variety of contexts including offshore trusts, a new concept has surfaced which is now being more broadly applied in the context of estate and asset protection planning. The concept is...
November 07, 2016 in Estate Planning
Special Needs Trust: The Importance of Getting it Right
It is commonplace today that most families either have knowledge of or may even have a family member who is a special needs individual. Special needs individuals, whether by virtue of a physical disability or mental disability, are often entitled...
November 03, 2016 in Estate Planning; Wills, Trusts & Estate Administration;
Family Conflict Among Siblings and Cousins: Clarity is Key
In the current financial times in which we live, where often times the structure of the family is complex, it has become increasingly prevalent that siblings or half-siblings and on some occasions, cousins will get into significant conflicts...
October 19, 2016 in Estate Planning
Portability and Pre-Marital Agreements: Who Gets the Benefit?
There is a unique interaction between estate taxation and family law which has arisen as a result of the portability election for estate taxes which was enacted several years ago. Portability is the concept of allowing a surviving spouse to...
October 17, 2016 in Divorce & Family Law; Estate & Gift Taxation;
Interfamily Notes and Refinancing
An often overlooked technique when it comes to family planning is the interfamily loan. For a number of years, the primary focus with respect to transfers between family members was the potential tax for gift and estate tax purposes which could be...
September 12, 2016 in Estate & Gift Taxation; Estate Planning;
Specialized Trust Planning, Income Taxes, and Asset Protection
Over the last several years, we have seen a significant, perhaps even a sea-, change in the estate planning environment. For many years, practitioners were focused on transfer taxes as the tax rates were high and the exemptions were low. Then,...
June 08, 2016 in Estate Planning; Wills, Trusts & Estate Administration;
The Importance of Titling Property: Getting it Right the First Time
We are now in an environment where we have far greater options when transferring property than was the case thirty years ago. In addition to the traditional probate process, either with or without a Will to heirs, we currently have a variety of...
June 01, 2016
Back to Fundamentals in Estate Planning: A Long Term Perspective
It has always been the case that one size does not fit all when it comes to estate planning. However, recent changes emphasize why we cannot simply use the standard plan from years past, and expect that we will achieve optimal and appropriate...
March 11, 2015 in Estate Planning
Tax Law – Portability & the Double Basis Step-up
We are now in an environment where estate tax planning for income tax purposes is both a real possibility and a virtual necessity to create efficient estate plans from both a transfer tax and an income tax perspective. There are several reasons...
February 05, 2015 in Tax Law
Foreign Bank Account Reporting: The Dragon has Teeth
A little known and sometimes extremely troublesome reporting requirement exists for United States persons who own foreign bank accounts in various countries around the world. To the extent that such accounts exceed the aggregate value of...
April 16, 2014 in Estate Planning; Wills, Trusts & Estate Administration;
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