Charitable Remainder Trust

We hesitate to publish this, because as soon as we do, Congress will do a roundoff back handspring with a twist and things will change.  However, as of this writing, the versions of the Build Back Better Act passed by the House and…

The Secure Act changed how many clients should plan for and name beneficiaries of retirement assets.

What is the Secure Act and how did it affect the designation of beneficiaries for retirement plans and IRAs? Elimination of the lifetime stretch (payout) of IRA benefits for most beneficiaries. Exceptions for Eligible Designated…

Outright vs. in trust. Conduit vs. accumulation. Integrated into the estate plan vs. “stand-alone.” These are all choices that must be made by estate planners when their clients have retirement benefits such as pensions, 401(k) plans,…

In light of this new paradigm, what tools are out there to help the practitioners do financial planning, where not only estate taxes and wealth transfer planning are considerations, but also income taxes?

In June 2008, the Treasury Department adopted certain final regulations with respect to the application of Code Sec. 2036(a)(1) and 2039 to so-called “grantor retained interest trusts,” which include grantor retained income trusts…

In January 2004, the Treasury Department issued extensive new regulations about the meaning of "income" in a fiduciary accounting sense. Fiduciary accounting income, even though it is a state law concept, has vast impact under the Federal…

The value of property is a critical factor in estate planning. The value of certain partial interests is determined pursuant to actuarial tables. It is important to accurately determine these values because that will help determine whether…

Regardless of the motive for making a charitable contribution or bequest, an individual should be aware of the tax effects of the transfer. Failure carefully to consider those effects may not only result in the loss of an income tax…

The charitable remainder trust, itself a by-product of tax reform, is one of the few estate planning devices left untouched by the tax reform bills of recent years. While practitioners, particularly those who do not dwell full-time in the…