Missives

Not all trusts will qualify as an undisclosed trust under Michigan’s Trust Code, nor should they. New definitions and several limitations best describe Michigan’s relatively new undisclosed trust.

Income taxes might be avoidable if a surviving spouse is not named as the designated beneficiary of his/her deceased spouse’s IRA, but it might require the cost of a private letter ruling to get to that income tax result.

The failure to comply with the Tax Code’s requirements for the charity’s contemporaneous written acknowledgment of the gift will result in the donor not being able to deduct his/her gift to the charity.

There are two different ways that litigation can be initiated in a Michigan probate court. It is either by filing a proceeding or a civil action, which can often lead to confusion.

As the American workforce continues to age and live longer, and employees continue to save for their retirement with 401(k) account contributions, there is a growing urgency to find funds needed to pay for long-term care insurance.

On July 1, 2026, the Department of Treasury identified the initial default investments for a Trump Account. Initial contributions to a Trump Account (TA) will be invested in State Street SPDR Portfolio S&P 500 ETF.

Charitable giving through a qualified charitable distribution (QCD) is almost always the most tax efficient way for the donor to carry out his/her philanthropy.

There are some last-minute rules to keep in mind as we actually enter the era of Trump Accounts (TA’s.) I wish I could say that this is the ‘final word’ on TAs, but we all know that is not going to be the case.

Death bed estate planning like the transfer of assets to an LLC to manufacture valuation discounts often do not work when there is no non-tax purpose for the transfer. If the initial reaction to a proposed asset transfer is that ‘it’s too good to be true,’ then it is too good to be true, and the IRS and the courts will let you know it.

Florida recently changed its laws to permit a summary procedure to settle the trustee’s accounts and enable the discharge of the trustee from liability without any court proceedings.