Tax Apportionment Clause

An effective tax clause is, in many ways, the most important and the most difficult provision of a Will or revocable trust to draft. Careless drafting can lead to ambiguities or unintended tax results. In such cases, a court may be called…

It has long been accepted as nearly axiomatic, from a wealth tax planning perspective, that lifetime gifts and other transfers are more efficient than deathtime transfers. Two common reasons account for this.

A trust is a "grantor trust" for income tax purposes to the extent that under the rules articulated in subpart E (sections 671 through 679) of part 1 of subchapter J of chapter 1 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended, the trust's…

Demographers contend that more than one-half of all marriages in America will end by divorce rather than by death. As a consequence, practitioners often are required to undertake estate planning for a property owner who is in a second or…

On November 10, 1988, President Reagan signed the Technical and Miscellaneous Revenue Act of 1988 ("TAMRA"), P.L. 100-647, into law. The Act makes amendments to the Tax Reform Act of 1984, the Tax Reform Act of 1986, the Revenue Act of…

A Will (or a Will substitute, such as a revocable trust) can do many things. It may provide instructions for burial or disposition of remains; name executors, trustees and guardians; impose, expand or restrict the duties and powers of the…

In many estates, the effective and creative use of disclaimers can be the most beneficial postmortem tax planning technique. Indeed, one court has held that failure to advise a client of her right to disclaim assets may constitute…

For most wealthy married property owners, the marital deduction is the most important estate tax planning benefit available under current law. Although the Economic Recovery Tax Act of 1981 made the federal marital deduction "unlimited" for…