Take-Away: The recent changes to the federal income tax code eliminates personal exemptions, expands the use of 529 accounts, and  it repeals the taxation of spousal support receipts. These rule changes may cause chaos in state divorce courts across the country for previously negotiated settlement agreement where the tax deduction and contractual obligations were critical […]

Take-Away: Pretty much all of the prior miscellaneous income tax deductions that individual taxpayers took advantage of disappeared with last week’s Tax Act. They cease to exist as deductions beginning in 2018. What Deductions are Disappearing? Tax Preparation Fees: Accounting fees for tax return preparation are no longer deductible. Tax Advice Fees: Fees incurred for […]

Take-Away: I know you spent most of the weekend reviewing the proposed tax law that the Committee released late last week. (Hopefully you have more of a life than I do!) So what follows is pretty much repeat of what you already know with a few thoughts of my own. Standard Deduction: This goes from […]

Take-Away: We are told that the pending proposals to change the Tax Code will result in simplification for millions of Americans. That may well be the case with the doubling of the standard deduction that both the House and Senate Bills propose. But there may be a lot more ‘gamesmanship’ afoot if the Senate Bill […]

Take-Away: It is a challenge for the trustee of a discretionary trust to address the addictions of a trust beneficiary. Key provisions need to be included in the discretionary trust to assist the trustee charged to work with a trust beneficiary who is challenged with substance abuse or other addictions. Background: Suppose a client comes […]

Take-Away: There were only a couple of surprises in the two Bills passed by the House and Senate with regard to retirement planning. A couple more surprises could result as the Conference Committee attempts to come up with a compromise Bill that would become the law beginning in 2018. The continuation of the stretch IRA […]

Your Question: Decedent dies, pretty much insolvent with a mortgage debt greater than the equity in the decedent’s home. Decedent’s life was insured, with the designated beneficiaries of the life insurance policy being the decedent’s siblings. Can creditors of the decedent’s estate, i.e. the mortgagee,  attach the death benefit that is payable to the decedent’s […]

Take Away: While Durable Powers of Attorney are an extremely helpful estate planning tool, they can also cause tax and liability concerns to the individuals who hold the power of attorney. While the temptation of many lawyers who draft durable powers of attorney is to include the ‘kitchen sink’ of powers in the instrument, more […]

Take-Away: Fiduciaries who ‘stand in the shoes’ of a ward or decedent need to be able to access the ward/decedent’s email account to fully carry out their fiduciary duties and account for all of an individual’s assets and debts. While service providers have historically been reluctant, if not obstinate,  to permit access to email accounts […]

Take-Away: While an inheritance, or a gift, received by an heir is generally treated as a spouse’s separate property, there is no assurance that the separate property asset will be retained by the heir after their divorce. The best way to assure that an asset is treated as a spouse’s separate property is for both […]