The federal government’s ability to seize a passport for the failure to report a foreign bank account was recently upheld by a Federal Appeals Court.

We often address the implications of a beneficiary designation in estate planning, e.g. IRAs; life insurance; transfer-on-death (TODs.) Yet another contract that can conflict with testamentary intent expressed in a Will or Trust is a provision in a limited liability operating agreement or partnership agreement that can interfere with, or frustrate,  a decedent’s testamentary intent. It is clear that a Will does not control the disposition of nonprobate assets. In re Estate of Maxwell, No 294357, Michigan Court of Appeals, November 9, 2010. Less certain is when the nonprobate ‘contract’ is not clear vis-à-vis the terms of a Will, or the implications of a specific devise.

While the concept of the clawback of lifetime gifts made by a donor to calculate the donor’s federal estate tax liability is already complicated, the IRS just made the calculation of that phantom federal estate tax liability even more complicated with its new includible exception Regulations.

While the concept of the clawback of lifetime gifts made by a donor to calculate the donor’s federal estate tax liability is already complicated, the IRS just made the calculation of that phantom federal estate tax liability even more complicated with its new includible exception Regulations.

If the transfer to a spouse or a charity under a charitable remainder unitrust cannot be quantified as to its present value, that transfer is not eligible to be claimed as a deduction for federal estate tax purposes.

While the IRS recently waived the 50% excise tax for some, but clearly not all, beneficiaries who inherited an IRA after the SECURE Act, the calculation of the next required minimum distribution from that inherited IRA, starting in 2023, will require some calculations.

The Tax Code and Regulations have multiple deadlines that often confuse retirement account owners. Keeping these deadlines straight is a challenge,  which is something that advisors must continuously remind account owners about.

While a qualified charitable distribution (QCD) from an IRA seems pretty straightforward, there can be a lot of confusion that leads to mistakes, and thus taxable income when a QCD goes awry.

As we near the finalization of the IRS’ Proposed Regulations on the SECURE Act, it is helpful to recall some of the surprising ‘interpretations’ that the IRS has provided to that Act in its Regulations. Four important IRS ‘interpretations’ are summarized below. It is highly doubtful that the IRS will change its position on its interpretation of what the SECURE Act requires.

The timing of when to take the first required minimum distribution (RMD) can create confusion and lead to a possible excise tax for an ‘excess contribution.’ This trap is because an RMD can never be rolled over.