Donald KozuskoSummaryGuidance on private trust companies was recently proposed by the U.S. tax authorities to address whether family ownership and participation in the governance of a trust company that is serving as trustee of the family's trusts would trigger unintended...
Estate Planning +Taxation: September 2008 Archives
Gal N. Kaufman, Melissa A. May, Patrick M. Schoshinski, and Todd I. Steinberg LEGISLATION: The Tax Relief and Health Care Act of 2006 (Public Law 109-432, December 20, 2006). On December 20, 2006, President Bush signed...
Encouraging and Helping Your Clients to Provide for Pets in Estate Plans The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) Your clients want the very best for their pets. They want to know that you as an...
Continue reading "Encouraging and Helping Your Clients to Provide for Pets in Estate Plans"
Reducing Taxable Wealth Yet Keeping It All In the Family (Courts' Views On Best Method To Take Discounts) Lance S. Hall Managing Director, FMV Opinions, Inc., N.Y., N.Y. For many decades, estate planning professionals have advised their clients...
William H. Lunger and F. Peter Conaty, Jr. Martin, Conaty & Lunger, P.A., Wilmington, DE I. Introduction. The purpose of this article is to provide an overview of (i) the basic concepts of an Asset Protection Trust...
Continue reading "Delaware Asset Protection Trusts: Basics And Opportunities"
Sebastian V. Grassi, Jr. Grassi & Toering, PLC, Troy, MI Introduction It is not uncommon for a divorced person or a widow/widower to remarry. For example, if a widow has children from a prior marriage and wants...
Continue reading "Drafting A Marital Deduction Trust For Second Marriages"
Nancy G. Fax Introduction The Uniform Trust Code (UTC) is the first national codification of the law of trusts. Since it was completed by the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws (NCCUSL) in 2000, the...
Continue reading "Practical Drafting Under The Uniform Trust Code"
Linda J. Ravdin A premarital agreement is a legally binding contract between two people who intend to marry that determines the property rights of the surviving spouse upon the death of the first spouse and that may...
Continue reading "Premarital Agreements and the Young Couple"
Eric A. Manterfield While tax savings represents a primary goal for many high net worth clients, there are real world drafting issues estate planners must consider when working with these individuals. Some planning strategies drive the...
Continue reading "Select Drafting Issues for High Net Worth Clients"
Jeffrey A. Galant and Dana L. Mark Family Business and the Process of SuccessionThere are various definitions of a "family business." We are focusing on a business owned or controlled by members of a single family,...
Donald Kozusko Partner, Kozusko Harris Vetter Wareh LLP, Washington, D.C. Summary Trusts are most often valued as vehicles for tax planning, protecting against creditors, and managing assets for beneficiaries who are minors or incapacitated adults. While valid,...
Continue reading "Choices: "Why Do I Need A Trust? Setting the Stage for Decision-making""
Gal N. Kaufman, Melissa A. May, Patrick M. Schoshinski, and Todd I. Steinberg CASES: Beneficiaries of Estate Must Use Discounted Estate Tax Values for Income Tax Basis Purposes (Janis v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo 2004-117, aff'd 98...
Linda Davis TaylorOver the past twenty years, I have worked with many families on charitable gift planning activities involving their family foundations, both as a representative of a not-for-profit organization seeking funds, and as investment counsel and advisor to families...
Continue reading "Keeping the "Family" in the Family Foundation"
By Roger D. Silk, Ph.D., CFA and Evan D. Unzelman An advisor recently approached us with a dilemma. His client, we'll call him John, set up a charitable remainder trust ("CRT") several years prior. Since then, John's circumstances had changed...
Continue reading "SELLING A CRT INCOME INTERST, Keep the Pros, Eliminate the Cons "
Jeanne L. Newlon, Esq.Venable LLPOn April 21, 2008, the IRS published Revenue Ruling 2008-22 (2008-16 I.R.B. 796) in which it held that the grantor's retention of a power, exercisable in a non-fiduciary capacity, to acquire property held in a trust...
David W. Reinecke Foley & Lardner LLP VII. Conclusion Retaining and planning for the community property interest of the client who migrates to a common law state will normally result in considerable advantages for the estate. Recognizing...
David W. Reinecke Foley & Lardner LLP V. ESTATE PLANNING TECHNIQUES FOR IMPORTED COMMUNITY PROPERTY A. Consultation with Community Property Attorneys 1. Many lawyers in common law jurisdictions may want to consult an attorney in the community...
David W. Reinecke Foley & Lardner LLP IV. ADVANTAGES OF RECOGNIZING AND PRESERVING IMPORTED COMMUNITY PROPERTY A. Federal Income Tax Advantages 1. Retaining the community character of property brought into a common law state, or acquired in...
David W. Reinecke Foley & Lardner LLP III. The Effect of Migration from a Community Property State to a Common Law State on a Married Couple's Ownership Interests A. Introduction 1. The transfer of community property to...
David W. Reinecke Foley & Lardner LLP II. Community and Marital Property Law: The Basics A. Fundamental Principles 1. Community Property States a. Eight states follow a community property system (Arizona, California, Idaho, Louisiana, New Mexico, Nevada,...
Espen Robak Are estate planners shortchanging their clients by applying obsolete and inappropriate valuation rules that overvalue transferred stock options? Regardless of how you feel about the ability of older valuation methods to produce accurate estimates of...
Continue reading "A "Fair Market" Approach To Valuing Stock Options"
Gerald Le Van The Le Van Company, LLC, Black Mountain, NC I. Beclouded by Croakspeak? Take Charge! Most of us who have estate plans can't tell you what's in them. We thought we understood at the time...
For Professionals In Non-Community Property States David W. Reinecke Foley & Lardner LLP Executive Summary In our highly mobile society, it is likely that many legal practitioners and other professional advisors from common law states will encounter clients...
Continue reading " Community Property Planning Techniques - Part I"
Matthew F. Erskine, Esq Erskine & Erskine, Worcester, MA Introduction Whether it is picking up shells on the beach, picking out fine art in a gallery or picking over items at a yard sale, all of us have...
Continue reading "Artwork And Collectibles: An Introduction"
George P. Levendis Levendis Law Group Overview This listing is the first in a series of columns that Mr. Levendis will publish periodically in the online publication, Wealth Strategies Journal. Each article will be on a subject...
Continue reading "Federal Transfer Tax Law and the Recent and Coming Elections"
Sarah M. Johnson Venable LLP, Washington, D.C. Introduction The appointment of guardians for minor children is one of the most important aspects of a parent's estate plan. If called to serve, the ideal guardian will oversee the...
Continue reading "Planning Considerations In Naming A Guardian For A Minor Child"
Donald Kozusko Partner, Kozusko Harris Vetter Wareh LLP, Washington, D.C. Summary The increase in the number and value of family trusts in the United States has been accompanied by an evolution, even revolution, in the ways in...
Continue reading " Choices: "Reciprocal Trust Doctrine Threatens Family Decision-making""
James E. McNair, Gregory J. Rupert, and Cynthia L. Gausvik Patton Boggs, LLP It is a situation that many parents and grandparents, particularly those with significant wealth, dread: the trust fund baby. Think of Benjamin Braddock in...
by Martin M. Shenkman, CPA, JD, MBA and Richard L. Harris, CLU, AEP Introduction to Split-Dollar A Split-dollar arrangement is a way of funding the purchase of life insurance between two parties. It is not an insurance policy....
James E. McNair, Gregory J. Rupert, and Cynthia L. Gausvik, Eric C. Wang and William A. MacDonald On May 25, 2007, Congress unexpectedly made changes to Internal Revenue Code ("Code") Section 6694, which imposes penalties upon accountants, lawyers, and...
By David A. Wexler, CLU, ChFC At a recent life insurance industry convention, two pundits were debating the pros and cons of the Investor Owned Life Insurance - known as IOLI - transaction (also known as Speculator initiated Life Insurance...
Continue reading "The IOLI, SPINLIFE, STOLI transaction, what is it and is it good for your client?"
Alan S. Acker Introduction Our transfer tax system motivates wealthy individuals to give property to spouses, children, grandchildren, and others in an effort to reduce anticipated transfer taxes that hover over us. Donors motivated by tax considerations often...
Continue reading "Every Drafter's Dream: The Flexible Irrevocable Trust"
Martin M. Shenkman, CPA, JD, MBA and Richard L. Harris, CLU, AEP Introduction to Split-Dollar A Split-dollar arrangement is a way of funding the purchase of life insurance between two parties. It is not an insurance policy. In split-dollar,...
Continue reading "Split-Dollar Arrangments for Life Insurance - An Overview"