My dad was a life insurance salesman. I remember rummaging around in his sales materials and finding a service he subscribed to that reported on the estate tax problems of the rich and famous and even the not-so-famous. He used the reports to make the point that his prospective clients needed to do some estate […]
Jonathan G. Blattmachr & Martin M. Shenkman, two major gurus in the estate planning field, seem to think a Trump administration will lead to the need for most of us to engage in some planning: The election of Donald J. Trump as President, along with a Republican-controlled House and Senate, may lead to the most […]
Good news from the land of taxes. The IRS audit rate of individuals (.07%) and businesses (.05%) fell to a 10+ year low due to budget cuts. Even high income taxpayers can feel the love: Audits declined even for the high-income households that have been an enforcement priority for the IRS. In 2016, the agency audited […]
As many will recall, then candidate Trump promised to eliminate the estate tax. That was then. This is now–he’s the President. What will he actually do? Will he also eliminate the estate tax’s two siblings: the gift tax and the generation skipping tax? No one knows, though many people care, especially those who preach tax […]
We all know the rule: Sections 402(c)(3) and 408(d)(3) provide that any amount distributed from a qualified plan or IRA will be excluded from income if it is transferred to an eligible retirement plan no later than the 60th day following the day of receipt. A similar rule applies to § 403(a) annuity plans, § […]
When you give money or property to someone while you’re alive, you make a gift. If that gift is beyond a certain size, you will also have to pay a gift tax on it. When die, your money or property will go to those whom you name as your beneficiaries in your will or trust. […]
Everybody wants to avoid probate, but far too many of those who want to avoid it, know what is. Here’s a primer: Probate is the legal process in which a deceased person’s will is proved valid; her personal representative or executor appointed; her property collected and preserved; and her debts, including taxes, paid. Usually, the […]
Two weeks ago, the Treasury Department released proposed IRS Code Section 2704 valuation regulations that, as proposed, will dramatically change the discounts currently allowed, including so-called minority and marketability discounts. Thus, gift and estate tax planning strategies that rely on such discounts to transfer property from one individual to another via the use of limited […]
Why doves cry. Half of Prince’s estate to go to government.
I’ve listened to Dave Ramsey. My wife owns a couple of his books. I get what he does, and I think he probably does a some good–in the debt area, at least. But he’s not always right. For example, I don’t care for some of his opinions about life insurance and much of his investment […]