Before the new power of attorney law becomes effective, it would be wise to confirm if existing powers of attorney will be accepted by financial institutions.

Charitable remainder trusts (CRTs) are a great way to save income taxes and to support a donor’s favorite charity. However, like any estate planning strategy, there are also traps along the way to be mindful of when funding a CRT.

Planning with qualified disclaimers, and sometimes even non-qualified disclaimers, can produce interesting transfer tax results. This is especially the case with a disclaimer of an income interest in a QTIP Trust.

When counselling a married couple be mindful of the ‘widow’s penalty’ which might lead the couple to seriously consider a Roth IRA conversion.

Congress can no longer ignore the spread between Social Security and Medicare benefits and the payroll taxes needed to pay for those federal entitlement programs.

Sadly, many elders are vulnerable to fraud when it comes to their IRAs. Few remedies exist for the victims who have lost their IRAs yet have had to pay the income taxes on the fraudulently induced distributions.

A Trust that holds S corporation stock is confronted with the decision to make either a qualifying subchapter S trust (QSST) election or an electing small business trust (ESBT) election. There dramatically different rules for each type of irrevocable trust that holds S corporation stock, and advantages and disadvantages to each.

As 2023 comes to a close, some individuals with earnings will be considering a backdoor Roth IRA conversion. While the backdoor is a sound retirement planning strategy that is known, and accepted, by the IRS, it does come with several complications that need to be considered in advance of its implementation.

We live in a world where transparency is expected as a normal course of dealing. However, sometimes the source that requires such transparency has a highly limited basis for making its demand. Such might be the case where a foreign country demands registration and/or disclosures about a Trust when the only connection between that foreign country and the Trust is the residence of a single trust beneficiary. This places a unique stress on the trustee of that Trust.

Hold onto your seats! Move over Delaware! Michigan is about ready to adopt a new quiet trust statute as part of the amended Michigan Trust Code. This might easily lead to a ‘blind leading the blind’ situation if a clients says he/she wants to create a quiet Trust.