There is no way to determine which, if any, of the Biden proposals will be enacted, and if so, when. It is clear that the Democrats have been proposing similar harsh tax changes for a long time, and at some…
Technology has changed the face of estate planning and will continue to do so. It’s altered the way practitioners interact with their clients and colleagues and how they conduct business. Many interactions with clients are now through web meetings, electronic…
Professional articles and webinars so often focus on new developments, complex or creative new planning ideas, as practitioners are always seeking to understand what is changing and new ideas that they can bring to clients. However, the “bread and butter”…
Who a client names as their beneficiaries is fundamental to carrying out their dispositive wishes. How their estate planning instruments define, or in the absence of a definition, the state default rule, terms such as ‘child,’ ‘‘descendant,’ and ‘issue,’ is…
A shared office or hybrid office solution creates unique challenges for practitioners to safeguard their clients’ confidentiality. A recent formal opinion, American Bar Association Formal Opinion 507 (Opinion 507), addresses ethical considerations for practitioners when using office sharing arrangements, such as client…
The suggestion of this article is that the client’s estate planner prepare, and maintain, a trust closing binder, analogous to closing binders commonly prepared in real estate and corporate transactions. However, unlike the real estate and corporate closing binder, this…
A Tax Court ruling reaffirmed estate inclusion rules governing qualified terminable interest property (QTIP) trusts and the requirements for valuation of QTIP assets and determination of expenses. It also presents yet another lesson in how estate plans and family challenges can…
Originally published in wealthmanagement.com Here’s a sample letter encouraging clients to formulate commitments for 2023. New Year’s is a time for resolutions, and estimates are that one-third of Americans will make a financial resolution. Why not encourage clients to make those…
Smaldino, a recent Tax Court decision, provides several important lessons for practitioners to consider about how to approach structuring and implementing estate plans for certain clients, especially for clients that practitioners did planning for during the rush throughout 2020 and 2021,…
Bloomberg Tax & Accounting today announced its 2022 honorees for outstanding authorship in estates, gifts, and trusts and the recipient of the 2022 Leonard L. Silverstein Award for Distinguished Service in Estates, Gifts, and Trusts Taxation. The awards were presented…