GST Tax

Parents' desire to control the way their child spends his inheritance is not new, and the resulting complications of this endeavor are evidenced throughout literature and history. A popular Bible story, that of Cain and his brother Abel,…

Fiduciaries often face many tax options and elections during the administration of an estate or trust. The manner in which the fiduciary exercises, or does not exercise, tax elections and options will significantly affect one, some, or all…

Probably, a majority of lawyers and laypersons perceive that gifts and bequests made outright are simpler and less expensive to implement and provide the beneficiary with more benefits than outright dispositions. Of course, everyone…

The Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001 (the “Act” or the “2001 Act") temporarily increases the estate and generation-skipping transfer tax exemptions, decreases the gift, estate and generation-skipping transfer tax…

Although qualified personal residence trusts or QPRTs are the most common way for an older family member to transfer one or two homes to younger family members, a Split Purchase Trust may be more where a new home is being acquired—the Split…

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

Powers to withdraw property from a trust which ultimately lapse, sometimes generically referred to as "Crummey powers," are a mainstay in estate planning. Their use can have far-reaching property as well as estate, gift and…

Life insurance has always been important in estate planning for both tax and non-tax reasons. Traditionally, individuals have acquired life insurance to meet a variety of concerns;