GST Planning

As a general rule, a trust is a taxpayer separate and independent of its grantor and its beneficiaries and is taxed in the same manner as an individual. There are, however, certain special rules and limitations to this taxing regime. One…

The IRS has just issued PLR 200949012. Although it may not, under Code Sec. 6110(k)(3) of the Code, be cited or used as precedent, it appears correctly to conclude that a trust someone else created for its beneficiary remains a “defective”…

In the 2001 Tax Act (known as EGTRRA), many changes were made to the estate tax system including increasing the exemption for this year to $3.5 million, lowering the top rate to 45%, eliminating the state death tax credit and culminating in…

Many married individuals adopt an estate plan designed to avoid estate tax on the death of the first spouse to die while taking maximum advantage of the so-called unified credit (also known as the applicable exclusion amount).

In the April 2005 Wealth Transfer Planning™ Newsletter, we discussed how the estate tax exemptions of spouses could be made transferable, in essence, by allowing the surviving spouse to use any unused estate tax exemption of the spouse…

In this article, we discuss a concept called the "ExtraCrummeyTrust(sm)", a new, separate form of trust being introduced in Wealth Transfer Planning for 2007. It is a variation of the Crummey Trust, one of the most widely used vehicles in…

Our mothers taught us that while it is very easy to get toothpaste out of a tube, it is nearly impossible to get it back in. Accordingly, you want to start with as much in the tube as possible. The same is true of property: it is very easy…

Many married individuals adopt an estate plan designed to avoid estate tax upon the death of the first spouse to die while taking maximum advantage of the so-called "estate tax exemption." The plan typically involves setting apart the…

Unless falling under an exception, exclusion or special rule, a generation-skipping transfer tax is imposed by Code Sec. §2601 whenever property is transferred through or around one younger generation (such as the generation of the…

Under the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, taxpayers are permitted a federal gift tax exemption and an estate tax exemption. Although technically not exemptions but more in the nature of exemption "equivalents" that entitle taxpayers to a…