Take-Away: Decanting a trust that is generation skipping transfer (GST) tax exempt is a dangerous proposition since the IRS refuses to give any guidance on the tax implications of decanting the assets from the GST exempt trust to a new trust that is created by the trustee. Background: In 2011, the IRs announced that it […]

Take-Away: Some states actually recognize a putative spouse and will authorize the distribution of intestate or surviving spouse benefits to that putative surviving spouse. Background: In the past, we have covered (some would say ad nausea) the concept of a common law marriage and the fact that nine states still recognize some form of a […]

Take-Away: Much attention is given these days to powers of appointment, either in connection with adding flexibility to dynasty-type trusts, or to intentionally expose the value of trust assets to estate inclusion in cause an adjustment to the income tax basis in a trust’s assets in the hands of the remainder beneficiaries, or to eliminate […]

Take-Away: Estate planners have yet another acronym to learn and discuss with their clients: the family advancement sustainability trust, or FAST. The purpose behind a FAST is to bring the focus of estate planning, along with finances, to the identification and preservation of the individual’s qualitative goals. In short, a FAST is intended to preserve […]

Take-Away: Often the terms descendant, issue, heir, or beneficiary are used interchangeably in a will or trust. Michigan’s EPIC provides some definitions to those legal terms. It also makes a couple of them mean the same thing. The legal concepts of descendant or beneficiary may be a bit broader than first meets the eye. Background: […]

Take-Away: The legal effect of a divorce between spouses is to treat the former spouse as having predeceased the decedent for purposes of interpreting a Will, Trust or any other governing instrument in Michigan. But that, apparently, is not the law in other states. Consequently, it is dangerous to assume that how Michigan treats a […]

Take-Away:  A trustee is required to take reasonable steps to locate trust property and to compel a former trustee to deliver trust property to the acting trustee. Much less clear under the Michigan Trust Code is the delivery of prior communications between the former trustee and the trust beneficiaries and between the former trustee and […]

Take-Away: The Probate and Estate Planning Council of the State Bar of Michigan is currently studying a proposed recommendation for an ante-mortem statute that would be used to validate the terms of a Will while the testator is still alive. The Council took a serious look as such a proposed statute back in 2015, but […]

Take-Away: There are varying degrees of mental capacity for various actions or documents signed by individuals. Often those different ‘tests’ of mental capacity appear in the same legal document which might raise questions as to the validity of actions taken by third parties under those documents. Background: The capacity of an individual differs depending upon […]

Take-Away: While an IRA can be divided by spouses in a divorce without income tax consequences to the owner of the IRA, apparently there can be a loss of creditor protection to the former spouse who receives the IRA incident to a divorce. Background: The division of traditional IRAs and qualified retirement accounts is common […]