In the recent Tax Court case of Estate of Marie P. Frappolli v. Director, Division of Taxation, a domestic partnership lost estate tax benefits because they did not register as a couple with the state. As an alternative to marriage equality, New Jersey had introduced the option to register as…
It was recently reported that prior to his death, Philip Seymour Hoffman rejected the advice of both his attorneys and accountant when planning his estate. Instead of leaving his estate to his children, Hoffman left his entire $34 million estate to his long-term girlfriend and mother of his kids. He…
A dynasty trust used to be a very popular estate planning tool that has declined in use over the last few years. A dynasty trust ensures that upon the client’s death their assets would still qualify for an estate tax exemption. In the past, if a deceased spouse did not…
America currently has 72 million people from the Baby Boomer generation, the oldest of which are turning sixty-eight this year. That is also the average age when people decide to create charitable remainder trusts. Estate planning attorneys are expecting a big increase in the number of charitable trusts set up…
In an interesting twist of events this week, court documents show that the late Phillip Seymour Hoffman left his entire estate to his girlfriend, Mimi O’Donnell. Hoffman died earlier this year at the age of forty-six of a heroin overdose at his home in New York City. He left behind…
Most people feel a sense of accomplishment after drafting and executing an estate plan. Afterwards, it is commonplace to file away the paperwork and promptly forget about the documents. The issue in this is that most people’s lives change between the creation of an estate plan, and it will need…
In late 2012, the government threatened to make steep cuts in the levels of exemption for gift and estate taxes. At the time, the gift tax exemption was set to drop from $5.1 million to $1 million, and the top tax rate was to rise from 35% to 55%. As…
Parents who are now at retirement age think that they have done a great job discussing finances and estate plans with their children. However, their children think the exact opposite about the situation. According to a new study done by the Fidelity Investments Intra-Family Generational Finance Study, this is the…
The late lead singer and guitarist of The Velvet Underground, who later had a decades-long successful solo career, was the man who famously sang “Hey babe, let’s take a walk on the wild side.” He seemed to take that lyric to heart when it came to his estate planning, and…
People entering retirement age are now facing an unexpected hurdle – dealing with the pitfalls from their parents’ reverse mortgage. The same loans that were supposed to be helping their elderly parents stay in their homes are now pushing the children out of them. In fact, the same situation is…