The government has put on our plates a once in a million, lifetime gift of a $5,000,000 tax break. Never before has this type of gift...

One of the most important decisions in drafting a trust is who will act as trustee. The obvious choices are friends and family, but this...

With the passage of the Tax Relief, Unemployment Insurance Reauthorization, and Job Creation Act of 2010 (Relief Act) , many planners...

There are four elements to estate tax planning available to you and only four: Gifts, Discounts, Charity, and Life Insurance. The...

In a recently issued IRS Internal Legal Memorandum (ILM), the IRS indicated interest paid on estate taxes accrued during the extension ...

An Exemption Trust, by any other name, is still an exemption trust; however it has also been called a bypass trust, B-trust, credit ...

You have just created a revocable inter-vivos trust (traditionally referred to as a “living trust”). Your attorney has advised you to ...

Prior to August 5, 1997 gifts made could be revalued by the IRS years after the transaction took place imposing taxes and penalties....

It happens when people don’t plan for the future; it happens when they don’t prepare for the high cost of dying. Unless proper ...

Knowing the basic rules of the Generation-Skipping Transfer (GST) tax will help reduce or even eliminate the impact of this tax. The...

By now you are aware that come 2013 we may see an entirely new estate and gift tax landscape. If Congress fails to make changes to the ...

“No taxation without representation” was often heard during the Revolutionary times. We, as Americans, have had a long history of ...

In the past digital assets have not been considered in the estate planning process. However, with technological advances occurring ...

With the new tax laws potentially changing in 2013, the question is whether you should sell appreciated capital assets in 2012 to take ...

With the low current interest rate environment and the published IRS applicable federal rates (AFR), we are witnessing phenomenally low ...

The act of dying without a will is called intestacy. The distribution under the laws of intestacy will vary from the wishes of the...

LOS ANGELES BUSINESS JOURNAL Vol. 17 No. 19 Reprinted by permission of the Los Angeles Business Journal ™ Good Retirement Planning...

As hard as it may seem to believe, only 10-20% of small business owners have any kind of succession plan in place. Even more startling,...

The recent enactment of the Reconciliation Act of 2017 (The Act) has led many individuals to believe with the higher federal gift, estate...