Take-Away: While the 2017 Tax Act liberalized the use of IRC 529 Higher Education Accounts to permit distributions to pay for tuition for elementary and secondary schools, up to $10,000 a year, not all states have jumped on that bandwagon. Background: An IRC 529 account is an investment account that is created by a donor […]

Take-Away: Michigan adopted, with a couple of modifications, the Uniform Directed Trust Act. It displaces the former Michigan trust protector provision, replacing it with a new section of the Michigan Trust Code. The Act permits a third party, also a fiduciary, to direct or otherwise control certain conduct of the trustee. The key point is […]

Take-Away: While the new Michigan Uniform Directed Trust Act is closely based on the Uniform Directed Trust Act, the version that Michigan adopted departs is several respects from the Uniform Act to afford greater protection to the directed trustee. Background: While the overriding goal of a Uniform Act is to have consistency across multiple jurisdictions […]

Take-Away: The meaning and effect of the terms of the trust are determined primarily by the jurisdiction that is designated in the trust instrument. The exception to this general rule is if the selected jurisdiction’s law is contrary to the strong public policy of the jurisdiction that has the most significant relationship with the matter […]

Take-Away: The Final Regulations for IRC 199A were published on January 18, 2019. These Final Regulations carry forward most, but not all, of the same limitations to planning strategies that were provided in the Proposed Regulations of August, 2018. The Final Regulations will be of interest to clients who own specified services trades or businesses […]

Take-Away: One planning strategy that came to light after IRC 199A appeared in the Tax Code was to use multiple non-grantor trusts so that each trust owned a part of a business that generated qualified business income. As a result, each irrevocable trust (or its beneficiaries who received trust distributions) could claim its own IRC […]

Take-Away: The Final IRC 199A Regulations, and IRS Notice 2019-7 seem to create a safe harbor that permits owners of rental real estate to qualify for the IRC 199A income tax deduction. As a generalization, ‘triple-net’ leased real estate will be excluded from the IRC 199A income tax deduction. The rental real estate owner will […]

Take-Away: A beneficiary’s interest in an irrevocable trust should be protected in the trust beneficiary’s divorce, as most beneficial interests arise as a result of a gift or inheritance, which under Michigan law are presumed to be the beneficiary’s separate property. But divorce judges possess equitable powers to reach a fair division of assets, and […]

Take-Away: Most intellectual property assets can be transferred by a Will or a Trust. But some intellectual property rights have specific statutory durations, while others have an indefinite ‘self-life’ if properly used or registered. The key point is to make sure that these unique assets, with their intrinsic values, are clearly addressed in the Will […]

Take-Away: As we begin the annual chore of completing our income tax returns for 2018, many will be surprised with regard to the impact of the 2017 Tax Act on their federal income tax liability for 2018. While an individual’s standard deduction was essentially doubled, ($24,400 in 2019 for a married couple) their personal exemption […]