by Christine | May 17, 2013 | Asset Protection, Limited Liability Company (LLC), Small Business |
In terms of new formations, the Limited Liability Company (“LLC”) is the new King. The former King, the corporation, has been deposed, and relatively few corporations are now being formed other than for companies that have a future hope of being publicly-traded, or...
by Christine | May 16, 2013 | Estate Tax, Gift Tax, IRS |
In 1972, President Richard Nixon cruised to re-election. “The Waltons” premiered on CBS. And Sumner Redstone, who wasn’t yet a global media mogul, (allegedly) made a taxable gift to his children and failed to file a return. Why wouldn’t you file a gift tax return if...
by Christine | May 15, 2013 | Charitable Giving, Individual Retirement Accounts (IRA) |
Tax-free transfers are limited to those over age 70½ mainly to contain the drain on the federal budget. One thing you should never forget about your IRA – even though you make contributions with pre-tax dollars, and once inside these accounts your money grows...
by Christine | May 14, 2013 | Estate Law, Estate Planning, Wills |
Nearly 2.5 million Americans died last year, many without signing a will. One of them was apparently Roman Blum, a Holocaust survivor and New York real estate developer who was worth almost $40 million when he passed away in January 2012 at the age of 97 … If, after...
by Christine | May 13, 2013 | Estate Law, Estate Planning, Marriage, Probate |
If a conflict of interest arises in fact between the spouses, their estate planning attorney should withdraw and advise the spouses to retain separate counsel. Having represented both of the spouses, the attorney may not thereafter represent one of them against...
by Christine | May 10, 2013 | Budget, Dynasty Trust, Estate Planning, GRATs, Intentionally Defective Grantor Trust (IDGT), Obama |
… The new budget proposal targets various estate planning tools utilized by taxpayers in an effort to limit tax loopholes and generate revenue In the midst of the budget battlefield, many estate planning attorneys are closing watching the President’s budget proposal....
by Christine | May 9, 2013 | Estate Planning, Obamacare, Taxes, Trusts |
So make sure the trustee is one of the officers of the company, which in a family business is pretty likely anyway, and you are all set right? Not so fast according to the IRS’ Associate Area Counsel who authored TAM 201317010. Trusts can accomplish...
by Christine | May 8, 2013 | Beneficiary Forms, Estate Planning, Estate Tax, LIfe Insurance, Trusts, Wills |
Consider the people who fill out forms designating who inherits assets like an insurance policy and then never go back and revise the forms when, for instance, they divorce and remarry. And then, there are the parents who have not determined who will serve as...
by Christine | May 7, 2013 | Beneficiary, Elder Law, Individual Retirement Accounts (IRA) |
If the IRA owner died before their RBD, there is no year of death RMD that you need to take. However, if the IRA owner died after their RBD, there may be an RMD that you as their beneficiary have to take that year. When a loved one is no longer with us, do all of...
by Christine | May 6, 2013 | Digital Assets, Digital Estate Planning, Estate Planning |
Let's face it: Your e-mail account, Facebook page and online photo albums are likely to outlive you. Deciding how to manage your digital legacy just may be your trickiest estate-planning task. You may be well aware of your assets, but what about those “digital”...
