The IRS recently extended the period of time during which a surviving spouse can make a “portability election,” which enables the surviving spouse to reduce or eliminate federal estate taxes that otherwise may be due at the surviving spouse’s death. In 2022, every person has a federal estate tax exclusion amount – an amount that can be gifted...
When engaging in the estate planning process, it’s easy to focus exclusively on the big assets such as real estate, retirement assets, investment accounts, and life insurance. It’s equally easy to discount the importance of planning for items of personal property. This is a mistake, because personal items can often times carry value far beyond...
For nearly a year, various proposals and so-called “frameworks” have been debated in Congress regarding changes to the federal estate and gift tax laws. Nearly all would have (i) reduced the amount that individuals could gift during lifetime or bequeath at death before application of federal transfer taxes, (ii) eliminated the so-called “step...
On April 28, 2021, President Joe Biden presented his proposed “American Families Plan” in an address to the nation. The address set forth hoped-for “once in a generation” investments focused on benefits to American families. These investments included expanded government-funded education, increases in various child and earned income credits, paid...
Over the past twenty years, there has been a dramatic change in the Estate tax laws. Given the Democratic control established in Washington, D.C. this month, additional Estate Tax reform is now a distinct possibility. Currently, each person can give away during lifetime, or distribute at death, an amount of $11.7 million without being subject to...
Following the recent November 2020 elections, individual tax planning faces further uncertainty for the remainder of this year and into the beginning of 2021. While it appears that Democrats will control the House of Representatives and the White House, under a Joe Biden presidency, it is not clear which political party will control the U.S....
With the Presidential and Congressional elections less than two weeks away, there has been much speculation regarding potential tax law changes that may follow. While pundits assume these “proposals” are clearly defined, many details necessary to enable careful tax planning are missing. This briefing will review the high-level concepts being...
By: Jacqueline L. Messler The IRS recently released Notices 2020-50 and 2020-51, on June 19 and June 26, respectively, which offer important but temporary relief to individuals who took their Required Minimum Distributions (RMDs) in 2020 prior to the enactment of the CARES Act. The Notices also expanded the number of people eligible to withdraw...
By: Ann M. Rieger On Friday, March 27th, the House of Representative approved the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act). The Act, which is designed to provide economic relief as the United States adapts to the outbreak of COVID-19, had previously been approved by the Senate in the late hours of March 25th, by a rare...
By: Joseph E. Tierney IV Update: The Department of Financial Institutions (DFI) issued emergency guidance on remote notarizations last week. Such emergency guidance referenced certain types of estate planning documents and included citations to state statutes addressing certain types of estate planning documents. The Department has reconsidered...
