Missives

Take-Away: About a year ago I wrote about a trustee that refuses to go along with a trust settlor’s retained right to substitute assets of equivalent value with the trust. This is an update to that earlier missive, as there has been another court decision that addressed the trustee’s refusal to go along with the […]

Take-Away: Dealing with the formal execution of estate planning documents during a pandemic can be a real challenge. While the Governor’s two Executive Orders has facilitate the execution of Wills, Trusts, and Durable Powers of Attorney, several questions remain when attempting to comply with the requirements of those two Executive Orders that are intended to […]

Take-Away: There has been considerable discussion recently about a trustee’s liability, especially with the adoption of Michigan’s directed and divided trustee statute, which are intended to shield a trustee from unwarranted liability. [MCL 700.7703a.] Far less attention is given to a beneficiary’s potential liability for debts of their trust or for their own actions with […]

Take-Away: Spousal rollovers were not changed by the SECURE Act. Naming a spouse as the decedent’s designated beneficiary is still the most tax-efficient manner in which to transmit a retirement account on the decedent-spouse’s death to his or her survivor, among several different options. While naming a spouse is the most tax effective manner to […]

The IRS published the applicable federal rates of interest for June, 2020 yesterday in Revenue Ruling 2020-12. Those rates follow: Short term (0 to 3 years) 0.18% Mid-term (3 to 9 years) 0.43% Long Term (9 years and up) 1.01% These historically low interest rates would be used in intra-family loan and sale transactions to […]

Take-Away: The IRS recently published a new Revenue Ruling that affects the income tax basis of a life insurance policy. That change will have a positive impact on a life-settlement sale of a life insurance policy. The change may also have a modest impact on the amount of gain recognized if the death benefit received […]

Take-Away: A trustee is charged with marshalling assets that are held, or supposed to be held, in a trust. If the trustee decides not to pursue assets to bring them into the trust, or to pursue claims the trust might have against third-parties, the real-party-in-interest doctrine normally says that only the trustee possesses the claim, […]

Take-Away: Today the Michigan Court of Appeals released an interesting case where the decedent’s Will and Trust were found to be forgeries by the named trustees. The probate court was asked to enter a damage award against the perpetrators for treble damages as authorized by Michigan’s conversion statute, but the probate court denied that request. […]

Take-Away: The State of Washington Supreme Court held that a spouse who had entered into a separation agreement in anticipation of a divorce waived her intestate succession rights when her husband died before their divorce was final. That result might not be the same in Michigan, in light of an unpublished Court of Appeals decision. […]

Take-Away: If an individual possesses and incident of ownership in life insurance at the time of his/her death, the full death benefit will be included in the individual’s taxable estate for federal estate taxation. Incident of ownership is more than just owning the life insurance on one’s life. Background: Death benefits owned by the insured  […]