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When to Revoke the So-Called Irrevocable Trust
June 26th, 2013
Americans were once trust-happy. Now many are having second thoughts, and rightly so. How irrevocable is the so-called irrevocable trust? Well, many people are ready to find out as they consider changes to their trusts now that ATRA 2012 is in the mi…
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A New Outlook on the “Trust Fund Baby”
June 19th, 2013
Many wealthy people worry about the potentially corrosive effect of making their children superrich. Not Larry Ellison. The Oracle founder and CEO, the third richest man in the United States — worth $43 billion, according to FORBES’ latest estima…
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Estate Planning Does Not End at the “Unified Credit”
May 28th, 2013
This post concerns potential estate tax saving from establishing a separate revocable trust for each spouse and dividing the marital estate between the two trusts. What is a “unified credit” and how does it affect your estate plans? Forbes recent…
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Categories: Estate Planning
Estate Planning Tools Affected by President’s Budget Proposal
May 7th, 2013
The new budget proposal targets various estate planning tools utilized by taxpayers in an effort to limit tax loopholes and generate revenue In the midst of the budget battlefield, many estate planning attorneys are closing watching the President’s…
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IRS Dissects Trusts with Pass-Through Entities
May 3rd, 2013
So make sure the trustee is one of the officers of the company, which in a family business is pretty likely anyway, and you are all set right? Not so fast according to the IRS’ Associate Area Counsel who authored TAM 201317010. Trusts can acc…
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Categories: Estate Planning
The Credit Shelter Trust – An Old Standby Tool
May 2nd, 2013
Even if your state has no estate or inheritance tax, there are other reasons to have a credit shelter trust. Here are a few … Even amongst recent tax law changes, there are certain estate planning tools that are still good ole’ standbys for your…
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Categories: Estate Planning
Decanting a Bottle of Wine …or an Irrevocable Trust?
March 21st, 2013
"It's like decanting a bottle of wine; you pour the wine into a new bottle to air it out," says Mark Haranzo, a partner at law firm Withers Bergman. In trust terms, you pour the assets of an old trust into a brand-new trust that essent…
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A Trustee’s Interpretation of a Trust: Prevention or Promotion?
March 18th, 2013
I suspect that trustees are most often comfortable with a prevention-focused mindset. Here’s my take: Our ability to recognize and deliberately change our mindset just might be a game-changer. For all the laws and expectations put upon trust office…
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The Gun Trust: Your Estate Planning “Weapon”
March 15th, 2013
The national trend is driven by the National Firearms Act (NFA), which regulates the transfer or sale of certain guns and other weapons, in part by requiring a sheriff or police chief to approve the transfer with an authorized signature. However, NFA…
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Fiscal Cliff Deal Brings New Tax Hikes for Trust Beneficiaries in Ann Arbor
January 24th, 2013
“It’s hitting where it really shouldn’t,” says Laurie Hall, an estates lawyer and head of the Wealth Management Group at Edwards Wildman in Boston. “These increases weren’t intended to hit people with income below $200,000, and they will.…
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