Elections have impacts. At the time of this writing, Donald Trump will become the 47th President of the United States on January 20, 2025, and Republicans are poised to take control of both houses of Congress.
Inter-Vivos QTIP Marital Trusts – Protecting the Assets You Have and Want to Pass On
In this article, we focus on the asset protection benefits of lifetime (“inter-vivos”) transfers to irrevocable “QTIP” marital trusts. The big distinctions between these trusts and SLATs and “Bert and Earnie” Trusts is that, with inter-vivos QTIP marital trusts, the trustmaker spouse need not give up the right to use and benefit from contributed trust property after his or her spouse’s death, and the couple’s beneficiaries can benefit from capital gains income tax step-ups when each spouse dies.
Qualified Personal Residence Trusts
Mr. Wright expresses his opinions and writes regular articles specifically for his clients on estate law. With interest rates rising and the federal estate tax exemption about to be cut in half in 2026, qualified personal residence trusts are becoming increasingly attrac ...
Secure Act Redux: Surprises and New Flexibility for IRA Beneficiary Trusts
In early 2020, we alerted you about Congress’s enactment of the “Secure Act” in a two-part article series. For the most part, this new federal law ended “stretch” inherited individual retirement accounts allowing beneficiaries to withdraw IRA funds over the course of their ...
A Trust Primer for Trustees and Investment Advisers
As the popularity of trusts has increased over recent years, the number of individuals asked to serve as a trustee for loved ones or friends has multiplied. Deciding how best to cope with these new situations can be confusing for those individuals and financial professional ...
Using Spousal “Bert and Earnie” Trusts to Stretch Estate Tax Exemptions
Few spouses recognize that just as you can make annual trust gifts for other family members that are excluded from federal gift and estate tax, you can also make annual tax excluded gifts to your spouse. These spousal tax excluded gifts are often an overlooked opportunity b ...
Spousal Lifetime Access Trusts
With the potential for changes in party control of both Congress and the Presidency, wealthy taxpayers are now asking many questions about using Spousal Lifetime Access Trusts (SLATs) to preserve existing estate tax exemptions, focus appreciation on gifted assets outside th ...
A Pandemic Perspective on the Future of Estate Planning
We thought as a generation we had weathered everything life could throw at us. We endured the Cold War, Vietnam, Watergate, two Gulf Wars, 9/11, and a Great Recession. We were ready to relax and enjoy retirement. Then, from nowhere, came the Covid-19 pandemic. As estate ...
Charitable Remainder Trusts
With clients worried about a perceived stock market top in the near term and a potential recession in the next 18 months, it's probably a good time to look at an old favorite in our Estate and Trust planning toolbag: the Charitable Remainder Trust (generally referred to as ...
Nitty-Gritty Details About Charitable Remainder Trust Participants
We previously provided an overview of Charitable Remainder Trusts (CRTs) and suggested that they might be a good strategy to employ to avoid immediate capital gains taxes on appreciated or concentrated marketable securities positions. That overview has sparked a number of s ...