Now’s the time to review your GST tax exposure
Absent congressional action this year, the federal gift and estate exemption and the generation-skipping transfer (GST) tax exemption (currently $13.99 million) are scheduled to return to their pre-2018 levels of $5 million (around $7 million when adjusted for inflation) beginning in 2026. So, it’s a good idea to consider strategies for taking...
Estate Planning Red Flag
You don’t understand the rules when splitting gifts with your spouse
Here’s a quick estate planning tip: one of the easiest ways to reduce the size of your taxable estate is to take advantage of your gift tax exclusion. For 2025, you can transfer up to $19,000 per recipient...
Revisit your buy-sell agreement in light of the U.S. Supreme Court’s Connelly decision
Buy-sell agreements are essential estate and succession planning tools for many family businesses and other closely held companies. These agreements, among other things, ensure that the business stays within the family or other ownership group.
Typically, this is accomplished by providing that if an owner dies or leaves the...
What’s my art collection worth?
Proper estate planning is important when accounting for works of art
If you possess paintings, sculptures and other pieces of art, they may represent a significant portion of your estate. Thus, these assets must be properly accounted for in your estate plan.
In your planning, you’ll...
Make Your Estate Plan “Letter” Perfect
Are you creating or updating your estate plan? First and foremost, you need a will that divides up your assets among beneficiaries. Then you can complement it with other documents, such as financial and health care powers of attorney and various trusts.
What about all those other vital matters...
Estate Planning Pitfall – You Haven’t Properly Funded a Trust
A trust can form the cornerstone of your estate plan, and they come in a variety of flavors. Indeed, there’s one for nearly any estate planning situation. Here’s a short list of a trust’s potential advantages: trust assets may avoid probate, provides planning flexibility, protects assets and can minimize taxes.
Have you properly substantiated your charitable gifts?
Are you charitably inclined? If so, and you itemize deductions, you may be entitled to deduct your charitable donations. The key word here is “may” because there are certain requirements and limitations your donations must meet. One such requirement is the need to substantiate charitable gifts with proper documentation.
Managing our Residuary Estate
Even with a comprehensive estate plan, it’s likely you’ll have some assets in a residuary estate. Like the sediment at the bottom of your glass after you finish a fine wine, an estate plan may also leave some residue.
This residue takes the form of assets left over after...
How an HSA Can Benefit Your Estate Plan
A Health Savings Account (HSA) can positively affect your estate plan. How? In addition to serving as a viable option to reduce health care costs, an HSA’s funds grow on a tax-deferred basis. In fact, an HSA is similar to a traditional IRA or 401(k) plan in that it’s a tax-advantaged savings...
Financial Power of Attorney
To spring or not to spring?
A financial power of attorney (POA) can be a critical component of your estate plan. It appoints a trusted representative (often called an agent) to make financial decisions on your behalf in the event you’re unable to do so.
Without...