By Michael Ettinger, Esq.
In our experience, a majority of New Yorkers are unaware (blissfully?) that New York State levies an estate tax.
New York’s estate tax starts on estates over one million dollars. What is your estate for tax purposes? All of your real and personal property, your bank accounts, investments, IRA’s, etc. as well as any life insurance that you own. Add it all up and, if you’re under a million, then no problem.
By Michael Ettinger, Attorney at Law
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Historically, estate planning consisted of setting up a will and leaving everything to one’s children in equal shares, “per stirpes”. The “per stirpes” is latin for “by the roots”, meaning that if any of the children predecease their parents then their share goes to their children, if any.
by Michael Ettinger, Esq.
Same sex couples face unique estate planning issues since, in many jurisdictions, their unions are not legally protected. New York, for example, does not permit same sex marriages although the state does recognize same sex marriages performed elsewhere (i.e., Massachusetts, Connecticut, Vermont, Iowa and D.C.).
Living trusts are often the estate planning vehicle of choice for the GLBT community for a number of reasons.
by Michael Ettinger, Esq.
It’s an estate planning epidemic. So many successful parents we meet have children who are poor or worse at handling money, have not achieved significant success in life where they have garnered enough experience in handling money or they simply refuse to grow up. What’s a parent to do?
Enter what has been termed the greatest invention of English common law: the trust. Trusts are legal entities that may hold and use assets for a beneficiary (your son or daughter) but have them managed by a trustee (one of more responsible adults, including a professional trustee).
by Michael Ettinger, Esq.
With people living much longer than in the past, the frequency of remarriage is increasing, even in later years. This latter phenomenon is raising a host of elder law estate planning issues. On the other hand, we are also seeing with increasing frequency the blended family with “his, hers and theirs” children, creating another set of potential pitfalls.
Most of these estate planning issues can be resolved with thoughtfulness on the part of the clients and the compassionate guidance of their estate planning attorney.
by Michael Ettinger, Esq.
There have been numerous articles written on the wisdom of converting your IRA, or a portion of it, to a Roth IRA. In 2010, the income limit on converting, previously $100,000 per year, has been eliminated allowing many more taxpayers this option.
Traditional IRA’s offer a tax deduction on the contribution but tax the distribution, required to start after age 70 1/2. Roths offer no deduction on contributions but the distributions are tax-free (after a five year holding period). Unlike a traditional IRA, with a Roth there is no mandatory age to take required minimum distributions.
by Michael Ettinger, Esq.
The political struggle between the two major parties over the Federal estate tax, or “death tax” as its opponents prefer to call it, continued with the expiration of the estate tax on January 1, 2010 for one year. On January 1, 2011, the estate tax is scheduled to reappear but not for estates over 3.5 million at a tax rate of 45%, as in 2009 when the tax expired. Under the Bush era tax cuts, enacted in 2001, the estate tax in 2011 and beyond will be imposed on estates over one million, at a tax rate of 55%. Where do these latter figures come from? Those were the exemptions and tax rates in 2001 when the new law took effect. It was assumed that Congress would pass amending legislation some time over the intervening nine years to correct the problem.
Politics being what it is, the parties could not agree. A proposal to extend the 3.5 million exemption of 2009 for an additional year, giving Congress an additional year to negotiate a new estate tax regime, died in the Senate.
