SOME PEOPLE ARE TRYING TO SIMPLIFY IT Many people, even in Washington, realize that retirement planning can be a bit complicated at times. There are all kinds of rules about who can do what and when they have to do it and what they have to do it with. Many…
NOT AS USEFUL BUT STILL GOOD TO HAVE This blog has explored the issues revolving around an ABC trust in the past and how its previously primary reason for existence is now no longer a consideration for many people. The primary reason for their existence was to ultimately lowering the…
GOOD NEWS AND BAD NEWS Most people are aware that April 15 is tax day. That simply means that you have to have your taxes filed and paid by that date and that the year that those taxes are due for are from January 1st to December 31st of the…
HUGUETTE CLARK AS EXEMPLAR The last member of the gilded age passed away just a few years ago. Huguette Clark’s life, in some ways, seems to mirror the classic Orson Welles classic One of the first things that she did to insure an estate battle was to pass the entirety of her…
KNOW IT WHEN YOU SEE IT Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart wrote in an opinion on a first amendment, free speech issue that became famous, but is so commonplace and true about life. Specifically he said that some things are hard to define, but he would know he if he…
STRANGE NAME, GREAT CONCEPT A person is entitled to gift up to $14,000 per year without incurring any gift tax liability. There are some limitations to those gifts, however. The gift must be for the unlimited, present usage of the interest that is being conveyed. That creates problems for when…
SEEMINGLY COMPLICATED The Generation skipping transfer tax seems complicated to understand and it absolutely should only be dealt with by a seasoned professional, but there are some hallmarks that are present in each such transaction so that individual taxpayers know when the tax will apply and can follow a general…
NAMING A TRUST AS AN IRA BENEFICIARY IN YOUR WILL Recently this blog touched on some of the issues related to leaving an individual retirement account to your heirs in a will, as found here. There are many options that people have to leave their IRA to others in a…
SOMETIMES MAY BE BETTER TO DISTRIBUTE THAN HOLD ON Most trustees know that they have to make an accounting and pay taxes on at least a quarterly basis. While accounting itself may seem like a relatively simple theoretical proposition, the truth is much different. The devil is in the details.…
CHARITABLE LEAD ANNUITY TRUST There are many great estate planning strategies that allow a person to avoid or lower estate tax liability and give money to charity at the same time. With the large estate tax exemption and portability of estate tax exemptions only a small number of Americans will…