Revocable Trust

For years, I have been counselling clients as to who should have a revocable trust without ever thinking of a serious trap for the unwary.  But as can happen, even after many decades of practice, you encounter clients whose circumstances…

What are the most popular documents in InterActive Legal? It’s an interesting question, and one we consider frequently as we work to bring our subscribers the most useful drafting resources. We could take a survey and the results would…

Ok, we live and learn. Jonathan has been administering estates for more than 35 years (old isn’t he?) and thought he kind of knew at least almost all there was to know about the basics of that task. But he has just learned in an estate…

This article briefly discusses how litigation relating to the administration of estates and trusts might be reduced through careful planning prior to the property owner’s transfer of wealth during lifetime or at death. Such litigation often…

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…

Under current law, the Federal estate tax will be eliminated for 2010. The income tax "step-up" in basis rule for most property included in a decedent's estate also is eliminated for that year. Rather, the decedent's basis "carries over" to…

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…

Not infrequently, the first spouse to die will have inadequate assets in his or her taxable estate to ensure complete use of his or her estate tax exemption. This is more likely today now that the Federal estate tax exemption has risen to…