Giving an IRA to a charity on the IRA owner’s death provides many tax benefits to the owner’s estate. It is also possible to be creative in what kind of trust is named as the IRA’s beneficiary to meet the decedent’s estate planning objectives.

There are still many common questions about the SECURE Acts’ provisions that create confusion. Fortunately, there are some clear answers to some of those questions. But, then again, there are many questions where we must wait further guidance in the form of proposed Regulations. Some fairly common questions and answers follow.

Recently the Investment Company Institute (ICI), an association that represents mutual fund companies and similar investment companies, conducted a survey of the prevalence of IRAs held in American households.

The SEC has proposed a new rule that would substantially curtail the use of AI and predictive data analytics now used to guide investors.

The IRS and victimized investors are aggressively pursuing charitable income tax deduction promoters.

File IRS Form 5329 annually to gain the shortest IRS statute of limitations when it comes to contributions to retirement accounts and taking required minimum distributions (RMDs) from retirement accounts.

It is important to keep in mind that in order to qualify as an annual exclusion, the gift must be of a present interest and that gifts to grandchildren in trust have additional requirements to be met in order to qualify for the generation skipping transfer tax annual exclusion opportunity.

Can a party request a jury trial in a probate court proceeding to modify the terms of a trust? Probably not, but who really knows?

The SECURE Act 2.0 expanded the use of a qualified charitable distribution (QCD) to include a transfer to a split-interest charitable entity.

Expect the federal gift tax annual exclusion amount to increase to $18,000 per donee starting in 2024.