Take-Away: I was recently asked why a provision regularly appears in irrevocable trusts that ties the hands of the trustee in making distributions. I explained that the regularly recurring provision that elicited their question is called the Upjohn provision that is intended to avoid trust assets being included in an individual trustee’s taxable estate. This […]

Take-Away: We know that if an IRA owner dies after his or her required beginning date (currently age 70 ½) but before he or she takes their full required minimum distribution (RMD) in the year of their death, the beneficiary of that IRA must take the deceased IRA owner’s RMD for that year. That is […]

Take-Away: Last week we covered nonjudicial settlement agreements to change how a trust is administered. In the past, we have covered the various provisions of the Michigan Trust Code that authorize the modification, or in some cases termination, of an irrevocable trust. We have also reviewed Michigan’s two decanting statutes, where the trustee creates a […]

Take-Away: A look back at the past 10 years reinforces the conclusion that there has been anything but certainty when it comes to the federal estate, gift and GST tax laws. It is challenge for advisors to give sound and practical planning advice to individuals when the transfer tax laws change as dramatically and frequently […]

Question: Is there an affirmative duty owed by a successor trustee to correct mistakes made by the predecessor trustee in the administration of the trust estate? In the question posed, the predecessor trustee incorrectly calculated the unitrust amount (4%) that was distributed to the lifetime trust beneficiary. Answer: There is no express affirmative duty to […]

Take-Away: As we enter into the annual charitable giving season, the questions arise if a pledge to a charity is enforceable or if outstanding at the time of the pledgor’s death, if it is a deductible debt. Michigan’s law on the enforcement of charitable pledges is weak and without much guidance. The federal government has […]

Take-Away: A Bill is working its way through Lansing that would not make it a crime to cohabit with another person. (Now there is a surprise for some of you!) While Michigan does not acknowledge common-law marriages as it once did, some Michigan residents who cohabit might nonetheless have their relationship classified as a valid […]

Take-away: As we move toward the end of this calendar year and the obligation to take required minimum distributions, it is also time to keep in mind  the opportunity and some of the strange eligibility rules that are associated with qualified charitable distributions, or QCD’s. Background: A qualified charitable distribution (QCD) is fast becoming the […]

Take-Away: The IRS is going to publish today in the Federal Register its new life expectancy tables. Those tables will be an update from the 2002 tables that we have relied upon for well over a decade to value life estates and remainder interests in the transfer of assets. No surprise, the new tables will […]

Take-Away:  The IRS published its Final Regulations that deal with the taxation and reporting of a death benefit primarily with regard to policies that were the subject of a ‘life settlement’ transaction. These Regulations could cause a substantial part of the death benefit paid under a life insurance policy to be subject to ordinary income […]